I’m first writing this dispatch out by hand. I left my computer in the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. I’m getting used to the fact that I left it behind and don’t have it here to use. I have almost accepted the fact that I’ll have to go to town tomorrow and retrieve it. It belongs here, not there.

I had hoped to take tomorrow off and not have to go anywhere. I pictured myself being like the adults that I hear about – they spend their Sunday mornings reading the New York Times newspaper and drinking coffee. I don’t know what they do in the afternoons. They perhaps take naps or go for walks. Then in the evenings

they retreat to their home entertainment area and they watch a movie or two. Me, I’ll have my computer here and I’ll resume working on the book project. But first, of course, I have to go and get it.

I also forgot my red spiral notebook in which I’d written down today and tomorrow’s 2-do lists. I’m slowly coming to accept the fact that I also don’t have it here, either.

I don’t want to admit that I can’t live without a laptop computer. I could live without a cellphone and often pay it no attention at all.

This harkens back to a time when there were no computers or cell phones. Back then, we were not connected to one another the way we are now. I feel as though this high degree of connectivity is unhealthy. I remember being an undergraduate and living on campus. Making landline phone calls was really expensive, so we all minimized the amount of time we were on the phone. And we communicated with close others via snail mail. At noon every day we’d get our daily mail out of our mailboxes. Now communication is near instantaneous. This has to be changing relations with others.

And I remember being in graduate school and working on my MFA. I had an old, well-worn Olivetti typewriter that my mother got me when I was in high school. It was a manual, not an electric. I did multiple drafts of my coursework and thesis on this machine. I also lived in a cabin that was somewhat off the beaten path. I did not have a telephone. This then did not bother me at all. And when I was in New Zealand, Pete and I corresponded by snail mail.

I got a computer as I was finishing up doing my thesis. I still did multiple copies. And I got a cell phone a few years back. For the longest time, Pete and I shared a single cell phone. We’d have continued with this if we’d not been told that it was soon to be no longer in service.

Am I better or worse off now? I’m tempted to go and purchase an old manual typewriter and give up the use of the phone. Then I’ll better be able to answer this question.

Next: 35. 2/4/24: Snow, finally