Two beaches – One planet

I was sorting through some of our October photos. Digital cameras are great – one can click away happily with no worries of spoiled film, etc. The result, however, is 1,000’s of photos that need sorting and orderifying (I made this word up just now – means ‘putting in order’).

I got to thinking …. two thoughts actually. Well OK, to be honest the second thought was a morning ‘while I’m in the shower’ thought but just as profound as the last night ‘while I’m sorting photos’ thought.

Thought 1 concerns the two beaches.

Beach 1 (photo taken by me) – Mission Bay, Auckland

Beach 2 (photo taken by daughter) – Kerela, India

Similar shots, both taken mid-October. How different yet how similar we all are.
Yeah! All right AND my daughter’s a better photographer that me!

Thought 2 concerns communication.

When I first left the UK in the mid 1970’s to live in India I kept in touch with my mother by writing to her – once a month. That’s how long it took for a letter to go, be replied to and come back. Long distance telephone calls were too expensive to contemplate except in dire emergency.

Today we have email, cheap (or free) long distance calls, instant messaging, texting … the list is almost endless. Keeping in touch is easy.

I remember my grandfather telling us about the horse and cart that delivered the morning milk. I even have a very vague memory of horse manure on the streets … I don’t have grandkids but I don’t need them … some of my younger colleagues are amazed when I tell them about the mainframe computers, punched cards and magnetic tapes of just 25 years ago that were THE latest in technology when I was a student!

It would be nice to think that the changing technology making communication so much easier had brought us more together. Sadly, it hasn’t … What’s wrong with humankind that we see differences so much more easily than we see similarities?