It struck me tonight how bizzare a form of communication is blogging. It seems to me that society is segregated and individualistic these days. Most of us do not know who our neighbors are.
I grew up in a small rural community that was fifty years behind times. We were one of the few homes with indoor plumbing and we didn't have a telephone until I was in high school. But we knew and/or were related to everyone in the community. Neighbors walked into your house without knocking...we just yelled as we entered. We visited neighbors on a regular, almost daily basis. We ate dinner each night at the table, without the tv on and we talked to one another. When a family was having financial problems or was short handed, everyone pitched in to help or dropped off things to help (food, blankets, animals, etc.).
When my great-grandfather needed to butcher his hogs, the neighborhood and family gathered for the day to do the chore. The day was wonderful to a child like me. It was a huge social event, listening to the women talk, the men laughing, everyone sitting down to eat together, and all us kids running and playing together. All the helpers took some sausage or pork home with them, and my great-grandfather got his pork butchered for the season.
I've lived in my house for over six years. I've never been in any of my neighbors' houses. I only know the names or have the phone numbers of one of my neighbors. It just struck me how strange and funny it is that I isolate myself in so many ways, and then I write about things that matter to me and post it so that anyone can read it.
We people are indeed strange creatures.
