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I still like to write letters, but I have slowed down greatly, as I lose the old family members who enjoyed the letters.  The younger ones want texts.  However, this has encouraged me to write a letter to the last remaining member of my parents' generation.  

Some years ago, I had a die made and bought engraved stationery for writing.  I love it - it's heavy paper, cream-colored, with navy blue ink and navy blue liners in the cream-colored envelopes.  I should use it more!  So I will!

I'm trying to avoid the lure of the internet myself.  It's hard to do. I do love real books, though.  I can't stand trying to read a book on a screen.  I like to re-read old favorites, and I am currently finding my old childhood favorites in new-book format for my grandchildren.  Fortunately, some of them really enjoy reading books. 

I understand slowing down the posts, but I will say I will miss them!

So happy to read your post, Donna. I always look forward to anything that you write. Your posts have helped me tremendously with my viewpoint on eliminating the new to make room for the old. I have always felt uncomfortable around anything "modern."

 I grew up with Victorian antiques, velvet curtains, and real rooms (not the ridiculous open concept.) Rooms might be used for multiple purposes, but they had doors on them that defined the room.

I have decided to use our rooms differently now. We have a house full of antiques and they are much loved.

Many blessings to you,

Glenda

I agree on the real books. I have treasured books on the shelf that I will keep. But because of health reasons I can no longer hold a book or see a real book to read it.  So I am thankful for my e reader at this point in my life.  When we were without power for seven days after Helene we were able to read easily on the lit screens and the batteries lasted for many days. 

 My Mom and Dad wrote letters through a year long courtship when they were hundreds of miles apart.  It is a shame that they were not saved.

Well, I agree in just about everything, but this year had to give in and get a cell phone. I am probably the last person in the county to have held out. Where I am there are no public telephones anymore, and if I am out and about and something happened, say in the manner  of a wildfire (which we have had plenty of) ; or an earthquake or some other natural disaster or illness, I would need to be able to communicate if I had to leave the house with my dog and a to- go bag packed up.  

I like letters too, but now am afraid that there is talk of the post office becoming privatized as the post master general does not wish to keep it a federal office anymore. If he has his way, we will lose the postal system as we know it. In fact, many young people have intense social anxiety problems nowadays due to social media; most do not know how to have a conversation, let alone write letters and thank you cards to people.  It is  such a shame.  Hopefully we will not let this happen.

I was thinking not long ago of many things and how I wish they had been retained. Also some local places that are not around much, if at all anymore. Many places have gone out of business totally, or have been replaced by some fast food outfit that I would not visit at any time. Things have changed; and not much for the better in most ways. But as the lady above pointed out, there are some saving graces with such electronics, such as her being able to read on an e-reader.  It is the reliance and dependence on such things with the the young that I find tragic, such as been discussed.  Most cannot read and write properly anymore either. 

Hi Donna, it is lovely to see your posts again and I look forward to reading them as much as I did when I first found your blog. 

As I am in my mid-20s, I have never known a life without the internet and advanced technological gadgets we have today. Though in saying that, the past 10 years seem to have exploded exponentially in regard to the frequency of tech we use daily! 

In my personal life I enjoy doing the simple things, living without all the fast-paced action that most people live with, but it is becoming increasingly harder. When I deleted my social media’s, I had multiple comments and questions asking about how I was to stay in contact with people if I couldn’t instantly message them! I had always had pen pals and when I moved towns, my friends and I would still write letters to each other that i have kept in a folder and enjoy looking over from time to time. Even so, now I tend to write my letters over email as the postage prices have risen drastically, especially between Australia and New Zealand! 

I believe there needs to be more boundaries and discussion over technology and our daily lives because I can only see the negative impact becoming clearer and clearer!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us and leaving a kind and considerate impact on the world <3

I have a pen pal and I look forward to her letters! And I exchange cards and notes with a granddaughter (eight years old!!!). She loves writing and receiving letters as much as I do! I still have cards from my grandmother and letters from a very long dead friend … Seeing their script makes them feel with me still… 

Because of you I picked up satsumas to try last week! They are amazing and I am checking for a dwarf that I can grow indoors as it is too cold for one outside! We have snow forecasted tomorrow so I will go to the greenhouse and plant lettuces for us to enjoy all winter. 

Hi Grandma Donna, I'm glad you have been able to do more of the things you wish to do, although like the other person, I will miss the more frequent posts from you! We can appreciate each post even more now.

I am in my 50s, so I remember very well being without mobile phones.

When I was growing up, my cousins moved overseas. An airmail letter would take six weeks to reach them, so it would be three months before any reply to letters was received. At Christmas we might have a long distance call, but other than that, we remained close for many years just via letters.

One of the things I treasure most is a folder full of letters sent between my Dad's family and his sister when she went to England in the 1960s (we live in Australia). The content is often just about everyday life, which really interests me.

Something that struck me is, as you've said before, people seemed to be more involved in the lives of neighbours and family, and it was a regular part of my Grandparents' lives to drive an elderly neighbour to church, take in the child of a large family who were having a tough time, etc.

I also love "hearing the voices" of my relatives in the letters, written in their own words, and seeing their handwriting. It makes me feel connected again which is comforting as I miss them a lot. I can also share the letters with my daughters so they get a sense of those wonderful people. I bet my relatives had no idea that this common form of communication would become such a valued link to them and to a very different time.

You make a good point: there's nothing stopping us from living the older ways; there's probably some level of responsibility for us to model these ways to the younger people in our lives. At least that way, they are aware of the option to be more free from technology and all the associated financial and social costs.

Best wishes from Kellie 

Thank you for sharing letters from your family, Donna.  When my Dad was in the Air Force back in the late 50's/early 60's, he kept all of the letters sent him from family and friends.  When he passed a number of years ago, I discovered them and it was great fun getting to "know" him as a young man.  I sorted them out and I gave the ones written to him by his younger sister to her for Christmas one year.  She said she really enjoyed getting to have them again.

I, too, enjoy writing letters vs texts and emails.  I have just one aunt left that I still write to and a friend I used to work with.  Most everyone else prefers texts.  (deep sigh)  A few years ago, our bank put out a plea for anyone interested in having an old fashioned pen pal.  I immediately signed up and was paired with a woman in her early 80s (I'm in my 50s).  I have thoroughly enjoyed our pen friendship these past few years and eagerly look forward to her letters.  It is interesting how much the two of us seem to have in common.  :0)

I also have an affinity for "real books".  I find I have several I'm reading in different parts of the house - my Bible, usually a non-fiction book (eg. something relating to gardening, medicinal herbs, frugality, etc...), and a "cozy" bit of fiction (lately I've been re-reading Grace Livingston Hill books - currently The Honor Girl from 1927).

As others have said, I also eagerly look forward to your postings, but understand the need to slow down on them.  I do enjoy re-reading your previous ones, so will make do with them while awaiting new ones.   

Blessings to you and Charles.  

A great post Donna and fully agree with you. At times when people contact me via cellphone ( most landlines here in NZ  done away with now) and my phone PINGS I feel like throwing it against the wall!

Anyhow that's today's life and we can remember that Laura Ingalls from Little House had Wars, Great Depression and so much technological change in her lifetime and she adjusted accordingly.

I have a friend that her and I have exchanged letters for over quarter of a century and every time it is thrilling for both of us to see a letter in the mailbox.Each of those letters are read several times.

Real books.... Oh yes indeed. I like non fiction..Amish, simple frugal living, ( Down to Earth), (The Legacy of Home author Mrs Sharon White),  biographies, gardening ( you get the picture) and love delving deep into Bible study.

I am encouraged with your gardening plans and hope all goes well for you.

Sincerely 

Karen NZ

I love reading your posts in Australia❣️Thank you for sharing

I have my “Australian life” history from 1976 to  approx 2006 I moved to Australia from The Netherlands with my husband in 1976 and  my mother ( in The Netherlands ) got an email address around 2006 and we also rang more often by then…..she kept all my letters, which I have now translated into english for my daughters and grandchildren in Australia to be able to read❣️ ….all about my daughters growing up years too, so nice…….

That is all missing when you lived close too of course, because when you see each other at least every week you would not write letters????????‍♀️

So there was at least this bonus for living so far away from your family????????☺️

No regrets though….life in Australia is good???? we very much try to live a “no waste” life.
I follow Rhonda Hetzel here in Australia and have learned a lot from here “down to earth”  website ( got to know all about you from her ????????)

Ooh, letters, that would be lovely to both write and receive, but postage in Denmark has risen to rediculous heights! Lately, I've thought about which heritage we leave behind today - no letters, no photos, no diaries - everything is online and deleted with one click. So sad. I love writing diaries/notebooks with fountain pens (and have lots of different colours to make it fun), I love reading real books and vintage magazines, and I try to limit myself to only a little blog-reading and Instagram (no FB), and only occasionally watching an episode of a series on TV. We did not have TV as a child, so it is not normal to me. But the radio or record player is always on. Good thing about music is that you can do a lot of work while it is playing.

In Denmark it is very difficult to not own/use a smartphone, since everything is digitalized. My parents are 80, and don't have smartphones, and everything is difficult and takes a very long time, because it has to be done manually. But it is your own responsibility to NOT be online all day death-scrolling silly reels/videos or whatever the internet serves you of stupidity.

Your mission is so great, inspiring and calming, and I always look forward to read your blogposts, keep them coming. ♥

I enjoy reading this blog. The topic of writing  regularly is so critical in an increasingly digital world. I would like to some day have a pen pal.????

I miss receiving letters from actual friends who I actually Iove.  I do have two snail mail penpals met through a website, which is a fun hobby, but I don't feel like we have enough other things in common that we would even be friends if we knew each other in person.

I too have a snail mail penpal through a website, but I think she added one more thing to her crazy busy life. One who can't say no to anything, so I'm chucking it. I think there's something that gets lost when you have a penpal for the sake of it, rather than creating one from an interest due to a meeting or real interest. 

I've told my husband before that I feel bad for the younger generation because they don't have those more simplicities of life memories.  I do at 63. Letter writing, real books, phones on the wall, biking with friends. I bought my dd a bike and not one kid in the neighorhood owned one and they all sat inside on their computers.  HORRIBLE!  I feel all that is also a huge burden. You miss a call and there's 3 more to follow because you didn't answer the first one. You buy something online and there the sale ad is on FB!  Talk about lack of privacy!  The cords, the outlets, and the stuff that doesn't work, but you keep the cords in case!  I'd rather have a writing desk than buckets of cords.  I have zero fear of the "missing out" thing, but even I have an addiction.  I ponder back and there's no newspapers (worth reading), or magazines that isn't 90% adds, so we pop online!  And it's become harder to sit and actually take in a book!  Too much mind flitting from one thing to the next. It's depressing really.   Even now, trying not to go online I think what to do... and am losing that of which I did before computers!  You have to go online to find a how to (albeit nice and easy), you have to go online to find almost anything since it's not in print. My mom passed and had a kindle which I got back, put one book on there, hated it with my every being and there it sits.  Nope - I need a real one in hand. Everything is way too accessible. And if I see one more mom handing their toddler a phone, I'm going to scream!

One thing I'd love to see is this entire blogsite, printed in a book that I would purchase in a heartbeat!!!! Oh how wonderful to have all this in print!!! :)

Indeed, I'm right there with you in terms of loving the idea of a book of this blog!  I HATE to think of it as some day being gone and the information not being able to be referenced again, as has happened to me several times when I found a blog I especially enjoyed. 

I wrote thousands of letters in my lifetime.   I had lots of friends from camp and grandparents in another state.  I was the girl that would meet another girl my age while on vacation.  Our family might have the RV spot next door in Yosemite and we'd ride bikes, swim, play board games or whatever.   Then we'd swap addresses and away we went!  Most of those lasted several years until HS or college, depending on our interests.  

Nowadays, several of my friends are both taking care of their parents and also young adult children in college.  They're swamped busy by no real choice of their own.  I'm grateful for texting as an option because they might just send me a one liner to say they miss me.  We know it's just a season, but the contact is nice.  I'm also a hobby card maker and probably help keep the USPS afloat with all my cards!  For my 3 best friends, I try and send one per month.  

I love love my library books!  I was probably one of the last newspaper hold outs in the USA.  I desperately miss it, but it became merely an advertising rag with no local news.  I've never been a TV person.  I use electronics at MY convenience.  That is difficult for some people to understand because they don't separate themselves from their phones to use the loo!!!   That is NOT me lol.

Interesting what Debby B wrote about the newspapers.

Here in NZ this past week a story on the online!!! main daily news was a story of how 14 community papers in the North Island are being axed including one that's been going for 100 years. I feel like everything that's being done this will isolate the older folk as many rely on them for information on weekly happenings and they don't have computers or smartphones.

To post a regular size letter in NZ currently is $2.30. How does that compare with other countries. To post to USA it is $4.30.   We live rural and a " rural delivery fee" is of $5.70 is added on top whatever the postage cost is. Makes one think twice before purchasing things to be delivered. Downside is often one can't get what they need in the town where you shop and it's cheaper to pay the extra fee than run the car to the city.  Petrol is currently around $ 2.53 litre where we live. Has been nearly $3 litre through this year.

OK, I also write a blog. That is a different art of writing, I think. It requires different techniques and skills. We need that in the 20th century too.

Finding a new post by you is like visiting with a friend you haven't seen in a while! Exciting and comforting. 

My grandmother and I were very close and lived in the same town until I was 6 and then my parents moved 8 hours away. We wrote letters every week and kept it up even when I moved to the USA from South Africa and until she passed away in 2011. I have lots of her letters, cards and notes saved and re-read them. I like reading them at the same time they were written, for example I'll read a Christmas time one around Christmas now, and then it feels like she wrote it in the present time. When I was in my last year of high school I found a penpal in Germany through a magazine. I was 17 and we are still writing to each other. I'm 51 now. I should admit though that the frequency of our letters has slowed down as technology usage increased and I remind myself that sitting down and writing a letter is far more relaxing than finding something online to do. Finding a really good pen to write with is always a thrill! Whenever I see writing paper at thrift stores I pick them up too because even though you can still find note cards in stores, actual writing paper is harder to come by.

I have always been a reader. I always have a book with me. My husband made the comment that it must be much nicer reading a book instead of an article online as he mostly does because there are no pop up ads. The ads were the reason I got rid of our TV and don't buy magazines anymore. So much money for little content, mostly just advertising goods to waste money on! 

I love your Christmas books, they look interesting. I've placed a few on hold at my library, so as soon as they notify me I'll go pick them up to read. One I read every year around Christmas is The Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg. It's just wonderful and I wished I lived in a town like theirs. Not to spoil the story for anyone, by the mail gets delivered by boat on the river. The story is set in Alabama. Magnolia Springs, Alabama was the inspiration for the town in the story, as they still get their mail delivered by boat. 

Thanks again for creating this community of kindred spirits and for your inspiring posts. I love reading everyone's messages.

Lovely to check the blog and find a new post from you GDonna, always a joy.

The comment about yourself and Charles putting a comfort in your body by making sure that none of these modern appliances were necessary to your home really resonated with me. It’s too easy to pick up the tablet or phone when I find myself with a moment to spare and I really need to train my brain not to do it automatically, like anything it’s a work in progress!

I found a note from my Grandma the other day, she’d obviously sent it to me when I’d moved away from home for work 35 odd years ago and the words brought back her voice so clearly that it moved me to tears. The love and care shone through with her reminder to me to cook for myself and eat properly, the news from her life with Grandad and the arrangements being made for when I was coming to stay the following weekend. Just a little flowered notelet that means more to me than all the tea in China

‘The Honor Girl’ is my absolute favorite GLH novel! GLH was such a prolific writer and I find I prefer her books set in the 1920’s-1940’s most. My second favorite book of hers is ‘Homing’.

I very much agree with this post and everyone’s comments. I’m 56 and so definitely remember life before the Internet and I am very glad of that! The positives though are that it’s easier to find people like-minded people, or “kindred spirits” as Anne Shirley would say. The negative side though is if you don’t utilize online communication you really lose touch with many people in your life. I experienced that when I left social media for a time. 
 
I definitely miss letters and things being simpler though. What a great post and comments too

I think if they lost contact with certain people after leaving social media, they were not real friends, otherwise they would have found another way to communicate.

I used to mail all of my bills but then the postal service got so bad they'd get lost or arrive after two weeks. We started dropping payments off in person instead and found that it was nice to visit new people that way. 

Dear Grandma Donna,

I love your posts!  My husband and I are retired teachers.  I dislike technology immensely. We have no Internet or computer, only my phone.  I finds the internet really drains my brain, and isn't what I want to fill my mind with.  Thus, I'd love a book from you!  Practical, sensible sustainable living!  I'd hate all your wisdom to be lost, but I understand your wanting to step back from technology.  Take care.  God bless.