Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Old and the New, The Young and the Old

Today I participated in a mini-writing marathon. A group of fellow writers met at the Whistle Stop Custard Shop in the heart of Ferguson, Missouri. We timed it just right because a telegraph club was there and a gentleman was demonstrating how the telegraph machine worked. The demonstration had an ironic twist. In setting up the delivery of the message, the man was using his laptap. It was as if the old and new were collaborating. To add another twist, hanging on the wall was a picture of a pony express rider. No matter the time period, finding ways to communicate has always and continues to be a common need for mankind.
There was a young boy who was asking questions and taking pictures with his flip camera. While he was asking questions, off to the side was an older gentleman who had actually operated the telegraph many, many years ago. He was so interesting and you could tell he was happy to share his memories. This experience reinforces what I have always known: there is much value in blending the old with the new. Some schools of thought would like to get rid of the old completely. I say we need a blend of both. How about you?

4 comments:

  1. We must blend the old with the new in order to have progress and understand the past.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I certainly do agree with you, Barb! How I wish I had wanted to hear any stories my grandparents may have wanted to share with me when I was young. But, being young, I wasn't interested then. That's why whenever I speak to students these days about writing, I suggest they ask their grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. to tell them some stories about their lives. Such fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Linda and Becky for your comments.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barb---

    I definitely think we need a blend of the old and the new. When the old disappears, history disappears with it.

    (I'm sorry I was not able to do the marathon. Did you get some great writing in? How many clever poems, complete with a perfect rhyme scheme, were you able to write?--ha! I would like to say I spent the time cleaning up, but mostly what I did was beg and plead and trick people into taking the left-over food home. I was thinking that SW should do a marathon, perhaps along Main Street in St. Charles...What do you think, or have they already done one of those?)

    ReplyDelete