June 9, 2021 (Wednesday)
A couple of Christmases ago, Dianna and Mark gave me a picture frame loaded with pictures. It had the appearance of a computer screen and the images were colorful and clear. This past Christmas some of my grandchildren gave me a similar device, called a Skylight. It is capable of receiving pictures from those who have its internet address. Each day when I see it, it has generally been updated with the latest photos from those grandchildren. What will they think of next?
We’ve come long way from 1941 when the corner grocery store cleared a shelf for a display from Lucky Strike cigarettes. I ventured into the store to watch the “show” on a very small black and white screen, which seemed like a movie, though it was merely a commercial. But in 1941 we had no TV, and no video commercials. So the show gathered a small crowd in the tiny grocery store. And caught the eyes and ears of a nine-year old boy. Today I have a show hanging on my wall, featuring full-color photos taken in Florida this same day. What a world we live in, the year 2021. As an 89-year-old, I can still be amazed at my world. I hope I never lose the sense of wonder in this exciting world, hurling itself with its galaxy through a seemingly endless universe.
The last two days have found me Watching BBC and the National Geographic channel hour after hour as the oceans were explored. Glad I’m not too old to learn anything, because nearly every scene revealed secrets in the oceans. The incredible number of creatures in the oceans is dumbfounding. The way the ecology is set up there so that no critter goes hungry is absolutely unbelievable. Again, I can’t help saying, “What a wonderful world!”
When I think of those who have yet to discover the wonder of the world we live in, I think of the verse by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
Songwriters: George Douglas / George David Weiss / Bob Thiele
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world