Paying the price of technology

My parents are from Ireland -- they both grew up in small (and fairly remote) villages. Growing up, I had the good fortune of going to Ireland in the summers. The village my Dad grew up in was very quiet -- beautiful, secluded and quiet. It sounds like a dream, doesn't it? I mean -- we'd wake up in the morning to the sound of sheep -- our days were filled with long walks and paddling around the lake in a small boat. Today, this sound like heaven to me -- to an eleven year old me, well...... after the first day it was pretty boring. We wouldn't have dreamed of complaining though, instead -- we devoured books and played never-ending games of Uno and solitaire.

I was eleven, when my grandfather taught me to play solitaire -- it's probably the only thing that he ever taught me. The cards were well worn -- they were soft and buttery, they were browning around the edges -- my grandparents never threw anything out -- new cards would never even be considered. I remember setting the cards up and spending an eternity looking for that next move...... Even now, I think of my grandfather when I play solitaire -- he would never approve of me cheating, even though I'd want to -- it was a far more attractive alternative to shuffling and setting up a new game.

I can't remember the last time I played solitaire with an actual deck of cards. Now, like most people, I play on a computer or on my pda (it passes the time while I pump). The electronic version doesn't let you cheat -- so, that's no longer a temptation -- but, it's so easy to give up and deal a new game -- so much of the strategy and deliberation is gone... if a game isn't going well, you can start over with a click of the mouse.

Technology has changed so many of the good old fashioned pass-times. TV, video games, computers...... they've really stolen the thunder of card games, board games and good books. I'm not sure we have a deck of cards...... but if we don't, I think I'm going to pick one up.