Logging On
The following is an excerpt from August 2002 Journal, where I am describing how the internet became a part of our life here (such that I am able to cut-n-paste these words this morning at 6:03 and share them with you folks living all across the shrinking planet by 6:07!)
Over the snoring of the dog in the next room, the first thing I hear this cool August morning is the chirp and squawk of the modem. If I was groggy before, the modem's harsh voice--and hot coffee, of course--help me tune in to the here and now. What an odd sound, not pleasant but familiar and somehow comforting, soon to become an acoustic antique, remembered only by those of us who lived in this very brief slice of technological time. I can still remember the thrill of hearing this squeal and sputter for the first time years ago. I watched the monitor in awe as that little black box in some incomprehensible way assembled my first browser (Mozilla?) by way of a "gopher" all the way from some university in England! This was surely the start of something big!
At work in a small North Carolina community hospital pain clinic, I had finagled a free trial of this internet thing I'd heard about. The VP for Operations granted permission for mine to be the first computer so connected. I could tell he thought this technological wizardry was a flash-in-the-pan, and that my enthusiasm for its potential for good was misplaced and doomed to disappointment. That was in early 1995--the only time in our marriage that Ann and I both worked under the same roof. Even though the pharmacy and the pain clinic were on the first floor and not far apart, we rarely saw each other during our workday. But this particular morning, I rushed down the hallway to pull her back with me by the sleeve of her white clinic jacket, no matter how busy she was. This was big! "Check this out!" I gushed with obvious excitement.
... Discovering the existence of this rurally-accessible technology had a huge impact on me that morning. It was the missing incentive, the catalyst I needed to begin to plan in earnest for our long-considered return to Virginia where we would find our true and permanent place in the country.
I had seen the light! With this electronic-village thing reaching out from Blacksburg into the countryside, we could live in the remotest parts of Virginia and this virtual two-way community would connect us to the larger world at the touch of a button! Community could be possible without geographic proximity. This was Perfect! Now, even when we finally found that place we dreamed of, isolated far out in the county with just a few caring but comfortably remote neighbors, we'd be able to browse local events, buy our groceries, participate in neighborhood mailing lists and world news and keep in touch with family and friends: the best of both worlds!