Time to Disconnect to Reconnect

  It was a "stay inside and make jam" sort of day.  While rain poured outside, I chopped plums. The plums that were picked a few days ago to prevent the raccoons from stealing them had ripened to the perfect point for this undertaking.  They were red enough to give the jam a beautiful color but not too ripe as to not add pectin.  Son came into the kitchen and immediately picked up a knife to help.  (This fellow can make jam with the best of them!  As matter of fact, all three of my grown kids know the fine art of home canning!) I was fully appreciative as there were two large baskets of plums that, when chopped, amounted to over a gallon!  As we chopped, we talked.  He made mention of the fact that some of the best conversations are held in the kitchen whether at the table during mealtime or while preparing food for canning.  It was then that he reminisced of times spent with "Grandma" (my mom).  "We did things.  It was not that she babysat.  Grandma taught us stuff...useful stuff...but we did not realize that we were learning.  The same with Papa (my Pop)...he taught us stuff but we thought we were having fun."  I had to agree with him.  Time spent with them was well spent.  Later, when he was stirring the jam, he started talking again about Papa and Grandma.  "I learned a lot of patience from them.  It is like they had time to really listen." he said.  Again, I had to agree.  Yep.  Both were patient and kind.  They took the time to teach and encourage their grandkids not scold and berate them.   They did have time.  Why?  Because they were not distracted by technology and "time-saving" devices.  Truth be told, folks back in the day accomplished far more each day than any of us nowadays does.  

   

  During the jam making session, Son and I covered a lot of territory that lay hidden in the backs of our minds.  We talked.  That in itself is something rare these days.  With all of the interruptions via technology, there is very little actual communicating happening.  Perhaps Son is right.  The best place to have a conversation is at the kitchen table.  It made me long for the days before cell phones and laptops...before technology came to possess our very minds...before we became addicted to social media.  It is time to disconnect, folks.  It is time to get back to actually communicating.  Perhaps, it is time for folks to get back to making homemade jam, snapping green beans and just spending time with each other instead of being glued to a screen.  It is time to disconnect to reconnect.