On the farm, culture and technology fuse with a sense of time, nature and history. Maria and I continue to find new things to love together. We have taken to playing chess, and Maria’s fiercely competitive and strategical side is emerging night after night after we battle through three or four games. At first, I won most of the time, but that is changing. Maria is a natural at chess, and in the evening, after dinner,  we get out some popcorn and go at it. She’s struggling a bit with her endgame, but not for long, I suspect. I didn’t know she liked to win this much, and I can tell this by how she rants and raves when she loses. Last night, I won two out of three, and almost got brained by a water bottle. She is part Sicilian. Enough said. As my grandmother used to say, watch out for the quiet ones.

The chess set doubles as nightime hope for her Ipod, which she charges there. I enjoy our fusion of technology and rural life. I love my Ipod, my Ipad, my computer and my blog. I can’t even imagine life without the Ipad, it is so useful. I’ve even found some media I like: The Wall Street Journal online is intelligent, useful and informative. I subscribed. I want to keep in touch, just not be drawn into the culture of alarm, hysteria and confrontation that passes for news these days. Technology can serve us, as long as it does not control us.