UNPLUGGED

As summer doles out its languid, warm days, I can't help but feel that fall is already waiting in the wings, and I'm not ready for it. The lovely days are already shortening, as to give warning that summer will not last long. The cricket filled evenings give quiet melody to the busy, days. Time never before seemed so fast moving as it does now---is it one's age, or the electronic era we're living in that makes everything seem so temporary--so just passing bye? Log in, click on, and there it all is--the world at our fingertips. Click again, and it's gone. I heard recently that scientists have decided that some of us may suffer from a lack of ability to enjoy the texture, detail, and richness of life, so accustomed are we to instant, sterile feedback via all our electronic equipment? Punch a key and get a result, then move on----if so, that's probably not a good thing. The antidote, according to the people who study these things ,is to go away somewhere where there are no phones, TV, computers, etc. and unplug for awhile. Are they kidding? Where would that be? Perhaps,they suggest, right in your own backyard---things like weeding the garden, cleaning the gutters, sewing a button on a shirt, knit a scarf or cook a good meal--anything that gives your hands something constructive to do and your mind focus. Studies have shown, these manual activities translate to the brain as good and worthy, and that in turn produces serotonin in the brain which then---voila--- translates to a form of happiness. Seems we are designed to do good. intrinsically satisfying things, not just observe or click a button. Our technology, however wonderful, has taken over much of our leisure time.

The trick is to dis-connect. Sometimes life pulls the plug for you. This week a close relative found herself suddenly very ill and in the hospital. Tests revealed a "systemic bacterial infection" which had somehow invaded her whole body. In addition, and separate, further tests revealed an anuerysm which if left untreated would eventually result in sudden death. Surgery will have to be performed, but not until the infection has left her body. As I sat and visited with her, she seemed bewildered and lost, as if she had just found herself in a foreign country--- but strangely upbeat. I asked if she had watched the TV or would be interested in reading. The answer was no---she had no desire yet to re-connect with the world,---she had disconnected and wanted nothing more than to see her family, make sure her dog was fed, and feel well again. Life had slowed this very busy lady down, and she said, "I have had lots of time to think", as though that was a luxury not usually afforded her. It occurred to me that in some way, her forced hospital visit was an enviable gift. She had been pushed off the merry go round, allowed time to gather her thoughts---and her concerns were reduced to the important basics of family, her dog, and health.

And so as we look ahead to whatever awaits us--- personal problems, more recession, further involvement in wars, pre-election debates and decisions, constant news flow of global crises---may we unplug for at least a while, once in a while, and note the smallest of pleasures--- or even surprise visitors.

My aunt, the woman mentioned above, said that the first night she was at the hospital, she looked up and saw an unfamiliar man standing at the foot of her bed. She said he was quite tall, had on a blue shirt and pants, was just gazing at her, and then faded away. Before I could ask if seeing a strange man in her room had frightened her, she remarked that on the contrary, it had given her a sense of comfort. I hope it was her guardian angel---and I wish we didn't need times of distress to be able to see them.

This week I am going to weed a little,sew a button on a sweater that's been needing it for a long time, and try to slow my racing pace. The war in Libya will have to go on without my constant monitoring, as will the Afghanistan pull-out and all the controversy surrounding it. The debt crisis will clamor noisily on till the decision deadline of August, and Republicans will have to continue searching for the best man/woman to wage their election campaign. The world will keep spinning its story, but for just a moment in this June of 2011,I want to leave it all and bask in the glory of a summer that, boiled down, still sings its songs of morning doves, buzzing bees, rustling breezes, and simmering heat. And somewhere in the middle of this simple symphony is a voice that says "be still ---". I will cling to that---and remember the thought of an angel quietly watching over a woman who in her exhaustion, did not need the distraction of TV ---but was comforted by the visit of a stranger in her room, who asked nothing of her but her returned attention. If angels exist, do we miss them because we refuse to see, or do they not come to visit because we are too busy to notice? I have never seen an angel, but sometimes in the middle of a restless night I imagine that one is holding me close.

It's the still of the night,I'm half asleep, and see no blue shirt or anything at all--the lullaby of summer rocks me. The TV off light is still glowing, the computer is always on, and the cell phones are re-charging---- waiting to reclaim me. But for now, I'm free---unplugged,floating timelessly, and in my dreams an angel wraps her wings around me. Her gown is not blue---it is white, the whitest of white I have ever seen---or just imagined. Maybe I'll look up angelic visits on Wikipedia tomorrow----