May 28

Pulling weeds is very cathartic.

Much like life, sometimes we must remove things before they grow out of control. I spent much of my afternoon and evening pulling weeds. The rewards of a simple task like yanking a dandelion or some morning glory from the earth is somehow satisfying to the soul. Too bad it is so hard on the body.

As I progressed I could see the ground I had covered and the progress I made. Bent over in the warm sun I grabbed a handful of herbal pests and removed them from my life, and theirs. It is a good way to rid myself of frustration and anger. Having a teenage daughter is a good way to get frustrated and angry.

Our youth is our hope for the future. Our youth has been spoiled by technology. I laugh; I sound just like my father. And probably his father before him. We are advancing in technology faster and faster every generation. My daughter’s generation is the first one to have so much information in the palm of their hand. She has an iPhone8 and wanted an iPhone X now there is an 11. I have a Samsung S7 which is plenty of phone for me. I know how the addiction to a phone can be. I fear for my daughter and hope she can control the addiction that seems to have so many people in its grasp.

My beautiful not-so-little girl has abused her phone privilege and lost if for a while. It’s amazing the grip this small square device has on all our lives. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, someone around you does. In fifty short years we have gone from a rotary phone to a watch that you can talk to and tell it who to call. We can talk face-to-face on our devices across the world. People don’t even have landlines anymore. My daughter doesn’t even understand the concept of a landline let alone a rotary phone.

The more connected our kids become in the virtual world, the more disconnected they are in the real world. Coronavirus has not made anything better.

It’s made it much worse. isolation and social distances have created a whole nother level of online connections. Tik Tok, Snapchat and Instagram have our kids locked in.

People get phones for their kids at a younger and younger age. Technology is a wonderful babysitter. Now with the hormones they put in foods, and this new world they have access to, our kids are growing up faster than ever before. I will hold on a do my best to ride it out and teach my girl about right and wrong.

Evening came and I returned to yanking weeds. I think about the insidious weeds that are inside the cell phone and the internet and I will be diligent. I will try to pull the weed before it takes over. I will try to prevent the cellular addiction from taking control of my daughter, and of myself.