WIFI

Today I joined the ranks of writers sitting in coffee shops and typing away as if the noisy world around them doesn't exist. I received my laptop on Thursday, and took it to my son so he could teach me the necessary things. Now, armored with that advice, the firewall he put on for me, and the ability to find a wifi signal, I am typing away as if the noisy world doesn't exist.

I can completely ignore the grinding of coffee grounds and hubbub of people talking. I am immersed with the aroma of coffee and fresh baked goods. Cold sweeps over me every time the door opens, and I love every second of it.

I am finally mobile! I can whip out my computer and write wherever I want. I can check spelling and let my imagination run rampant down new streets and avenues. I can sit beside a lake and watch a sunset.

Hold on you say, couldn't you always do those things with material of the real world? Notebooks, pens, pencils and dictionaries have long been the standard aids to wordsmiths. Yes, until now, those were my tools of choice. My desktop computer at home was the means of saving and printing. I found over time, that I wrote better on my home computer than I ever did on paper. I could edit on the fly, and not leave messy scribbled blotches where the previous word just didn't make the cut. Now my work looks finished and neat on the page. I can type much faster than I can write so that my trail of thought doesn't leave me behind as it meanders the creative avenues.

The laptop has freed me further from the bounds of earth. Now I fly. I sing to the wind and dance in meadows. Freedom in not just another word, when you find yourself leaping over rocks than hitherto blocked your path.