What's Old is New...

The Times Are a'Changin'

“Seeing the world as new is about letting go of what feels old. It is about realizing the world is constantly changing and that you are too. Because of this, everything around you is constantly evolving, growing, and nothing is repeated. The only thing that holds on to repetition is our mind.”

EzineMark.com

My friend, Anna, and I went to South Side last night to watch the 4th of July fireworks. We sat on the curb and looked up at the statue of Vulcan that sits on the top of Red Mountain. As the anticipation built, and ribbons of light began spewing forth from Vulcan's base, we saw something else. Over to our right, high in the sky came an object lit red and blue. It was perfectly silent, and moved in a way that no other aircraft moves, which is to say, any way it wanted to. Hover, sideways, diagonally, up, down—a drone was watching the fireworks too. I have to tell you, it was a bit spooky.

We watched the drone as much as we watched the fireworks, understanding that it would be the first of many as our world changes. I knew they were in use by some of the television stations to track traffic and weather related damage, but to see one sitting in the sky left us slightly off kilter. So it was reassuring to see all the people around us who had come to watch the fireworks, too. Folks with houses close by had opened them up to friends and neighbors—watermelon was being sliced and hot dogs grilled. Loads of college students had gathered in beer-drinking groups, and daddies with little ones on their shoulders bounced to the music coming from someone's ipad. Folks of all stripes and persuasions were standing and chatting together. It was an old, familiar scene.

I suspect that drones are here to stay. Before we know it they'll be zipping up and down the streets delivering the mail. We are slowly but surely foregoing all our notions of privacy, so having one hover over our back deck with a message from Mama is not that far off. Reminds me of those owls in the Harry Potter movies.

Everything changes and nothing is repeated. Except maybe the clothes on some of those teenagers I saw last night that looked exactly like what we wore in the 1970's. The only thing that holds on to repetition is our mind...and teenagers.

                                                      In the Spirit,

                                                            Jane