Living in rural Tennessee is a bit like stepping back in time. This suits me very well. This summer my in laws came to visit us for a few days. After spending the day on a house tour of an old plantation my father in law asked me if I ever felt like I was born a hundred years too late. "Me specifically?" I asked, surprised that he had discovered one of my top three secret wishes. "Yes, you specifically!" he said. I get along great with my in laws, but I know they think I'm crazy when it comes to my "attachment" to old things. It's true, I do wish I was born in 1900. Maybe it's because I grew up in a Victorian house with old furniture, or because my favorite books as a child all took place in yesteryear: the Laura Ingall's Wilder books, Anne of Green Gables, and The Secret Garden. In any event, to me, old means beautiful and cozy. In addition to my esthetic preferences, I figure there's enough crap in the world. Liking old stuff means I contribute a little less to the mass production of new items that will very soon end up in the dump because most stuff really is built more shoddily these days. But don't get me wrong, I buy plenty of new stuff too.

My preference for 1900 doesn't end with antique furniture (also known as trash when found on the sidewalk or side of the road). I long for a culture where we don't all look at our cell phones every 5 minutes or give a crap about what's been posted on Facebook. Recently I've been yearning for a land line. Where I live, there's no cell service anyway. Our friends out here mainly use a land line and recently mentioned that it would be easier to communicate if we had a local phone number. Long distance calls mean extra cost for them. So, we got a land line. I love it. I got the most basic package. So, when I get a call, I have no idea who is calling. In this day and age that's good clean fun. When we hang out with our neighbors they don't spend any time looking at their cell phones. Around here, they'd be freaks if they did. I still have my Iphone. The commute to work is a great time to catch up with peeps. But, in an effort to live the dream, I think I'll turn it off when I'm home or hanging out with friends.