We speed along the rich tarmac and I sit facing backwards watching the vehicles slide through my view against the backdrop of wilderness with occasional man-made conformity(2).
I have spent most of the week away from the rigours of the internet. I say “most” as I did take a brief sojourn in the middle of my holiday to travel to Edinburgh and co-organise a conference day on (Dynamic Languages with Marco. That was a great day, we learned a lot that we can take to next year’s event and it was very interesting meeting Richard Stallman, it was a pity I had to rush back to my holiday as it would have been nice to be a part of the rest of the festival.
Being away from the internet was interesting. Although I was concerned about all the people I had to speak to and catch up with, it was also nice to be apart from them, to enjoy the silence away from electronic noise that clutters my life. After a few hours away I missed it less and started to enjoy the solitude it afforded.
I wasn’t alone of course, I was with family, my wife, my son, Grandmas Steph and Linda and the extended Scottish Clan were all part of the time away. But the solitude was being remote from the instant world. I was able to sit on the shore (being eaten alive by the midges) and watch the waves gently lapping in the Kyle of Lochalsh. I was able to watch the sun set and the sky change through dramatic hues. I was also able to forget about the many tiny concerns that flit about my head in the normal days of connectivity.
But now we head back and as we go forever south and the signal becomes stronger on my phone and other electronic devices I start to appreciate what I had missed. I am, I realise a dichotomy, happy to be away from technology and modern society and also willing to immerse myself within it and suckle from its many benefits.
C’est la Vie.
-mdk
(1) Apologies to Kate Bush.
(2) I am sitting in a mobile home hence the direction of my view.
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