All or Nothing

My cell phone contract is about to expire.  I am finally free to choose the best company and plan currently on the market.  (and subsequently get locked into another contract.......but that's another problem altogether.)

As I peruse the available phones and plans, I don't know which phone to get.  The plans are pretty much all alike, with the exception of who actually offers even the smallest tidbit of service away out here in the sticks.  I just can't decide which phone to pick.  I love my smartphone.  I can do all manner of things with it, whenever I want.  I especially love that I can text and chat via wifi, which is a huge bonus out here where there is no cell phone service available on my sofa.  I consider myself a chronic "over-sharer" although I do make an effort not to.  There are days when I share everything though!  (appropriate things anyway.......) 

In utter contrast, part of me craves the simple life, without all the (literal) bells and whistles.  A life where I can just go out and be.  A life that was once the norm, is now considered weird and difficult.  I shock enough people when I tell them that we don't have cable television at our house and mostly watch PBS.  Imagine the looks of horror I would get if I pulled out a flip phone!  It would probably make the 6 o'clock news.  (Although most people would read about it on their Facebook newsfeed........)

Is it possible to live simply while being completely connected?  We read about air pollution affecting our environment every day.  But what about social pollution- can't that be just as toxic? 

I feel extremely hypocritical sitting here writing an online blog about the simple life, social pollution, and questioning my capacity to over-share.  But, then comes the question- if I don't put it out there, who will?  I once wrote a blog entry (elsewhere) about the merits about physical books versus e-books.  A "friend" read it and proceeded to mock me viciously about my use of electronic media to talk about why e-books will never replace real books.  He remarked that I should have "just written the blog entry into a notebook and stuck it on a shelf in the hopes that someone might read it" because that was essentially what I was arguing for. 

I see commercials urging people to get outside and "unplug" at the same time that I see commercials about a new camera that you can snap a picture with and it INSTANTLY uploads it to your Facebook feed where your friends can comment, like, and share.  I think my favorite is a commercial where two people are hiking in the mountains when suddenly the trees and landscape morph into a casino.  Instantly the hikers are jubilant and their hiking garb is swapped for casino swag. 

So what can I do?  It seems to be an all or nothing proposition.  Either embrace the social media world and succumb to social pollution (if there isn't a pic, it didn't happen!) and essentially become one of those people who drive through the mountains and stop only to snap a picture of the black bear on the side of the road while the Rangers try to keep people away..............OR..............become some sort of crazy person who eschews social media and is seen as elitist or reclusive, depending on who is doing the viewing. 

Is it possible to have the best of both worlds? 

Mountain Mornings

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
-John Muir-

It's been unusually cool in my part of the world for the past few days.  Cool enough to have all the windows open to let the cool air in, pretty much unheard of in late July.  Late July and then into August typically leave us in the throes of what I call "suppression heat" where it is so hot and humid that you just lay there, trying not to sweat.  I love the lush green that comes along with that humidity and heat, but I love it from the confines of the air conditioned living room.  So, to be able to keep the windows open for three days and nights straight.............amazingly wonderful.

Yesterday, I woke up in the chilly air buried under my quilts and blankets in a warm little cocoon of perfect snugness, whacked the snooze button on my alarm (it was 0430!!) and gave myself 5 (or 15) minutes to enjoy the cold outside and warm inside.  I love that feeling- when I was a kid, I grew up in a house that didn't have a lot of heating in the back where the bedrooms were.  It would be around 40 degrees in our rooms most mornings, so you learned early that you leapt from bed and hustled down to the kitchen or living room where the woodstove was.  I grew up in the "frozen north" where I once saw the thermometer reach 56 below zero.  Not counting the windchill.  Living in the south doesn't often provide those cool mornings to enjoy.

Once, I spent a significant amount of time in the mountains not far from here.  (Not the Smokies.)  I had the opportunity to spend weekends up on the top of a mountain in a little house and I was able to wake up to mountain mornings that are cool and beautiful, where you can see the steam coming off your coffee and you need a hoodie to ward off the chill.  While I no longer go to that house, I have held onto that feeling of peace and contentment that I would always feel up there.  The last three mornings have reminded me of that feeling and how much I miss it.

The above quote from John Muir keeps cycling through my mind and makes me "itchy" which is to say, makes me want to run away from home and live in the mountains (with my family, of course).  This isn't logistically possible, since I just got a new job in the city, kiddo is in school, and a host of other things that make me a grown-up and limit my ability to simply drop everything and run off into the sunset with abandon. 

But at least I know what I want, so that someday, when the timing is right, I will be able to point my compass in that direction and drink my coffee every morning on my mountain porch, where the sun is crisper, the birds sing sweeter, and all the world is in harmony.

Photo Credit