THE CHRISTMAS CARD HABIT

Over a decade ago, 150 Christmas cards and a yearly letter  were snail mailed from our house.  When the habit started, long distance calls were expensive.  Gradually, stamps became more expensive than phone calls which are free within the USA and Canada.  However, habits die slowly unless one is rapped on the knuckles, so to speak.  Today, the stamps have become more dear than the need to fill people in who can't pick up the phone to find out how I am. Actually, with email, Facebook, and telephone, there are few people with whom I am not in reasonable frequetly enough contact.

Thinking about it, today there are not many blacksmiths around though some people still keep horses.  It didn't all happen at once that smithies became obsolete in the village square.  Similarly, I realize that I have been sending fewer and fewer cards.There is one friend, in her 9th decade, who does not have a computer so I send a card by mail.  I send many by email and some as ecards.  This year I find myself wondering what I really have to tell people other than Hi.and to wish them Happy Holidays.

I'm always amused when people tell me about their lives and I think that I would not think most of the things I am being told are things I would ever bother to mention if they happened to me.  It occurs to me that most people's lives are pretty normal, as I believe my own to be, whatever 'normal'is.  Life is only really interesting and important to the person living it.  I'm left wondering when greeting cards will be obsolete in paper or card form and totally handled through cyberspace.  Will it be another change in my lifetime?  Shopping has become, with the exception of food stuffs, limited to shopping through my computer.  I stopped buying reference books years ago when I discovered Google offers more information and it stays up to date.

So, if you are a friend and do not read my blog, you may get an email, ecard, of a phone call.......