SPRING HAS SPRUNG

"THERE IS NOTHING TO WRITING. ALL YOU DO IS SIT DOWN AT A TYPEWRITER AND BLEED." ERNEST HEMMINGWAY . We have a new friend staying at our house. Well really a very old friend of a friend. Here she is. She caused quite a stir when she arrived, "What is it, what is it" shouted two excited boys. "Is it for me? Is it for me?" they chorused. So I took off the incredibly pleasing teal cover to reveal a beautiful Smith Corona in all her vintage 18th birthday present glory. "What does it do? What does it do?" They chanted. "Well is types things." "?" We then had an amusing ten minutes trying to explain to the boys what a typewriter is. "So its like a really really early computer then?" said the ginger one. "Well no not exactly" Which then lead to an even longer discussion about the incomprehensible fact that there was a time before computers. "How old do you think I was when I got my first computer?" I asked. (Please keep in mind my answer does not mean I am really really ancient, just that I don't work in an industry that uses them that much.) He thought long and hard about it and then said "Three?" "No darling 28." And to that it appears there is no answer. The thought of home computers in 1972 got us both wondering just how big it would have had to of been. We decided probably as big as our house and the neighbours put together. My thoughts turned to the enormous computers that Benny Hill uses to control the traffic lights with in "The Italian Job". It has also been quite a shock to my finger tips remembering just how HARD you have to hammer on a typewriters keys. Then at the weekend on a visit to one of our favourite places I found these Don't they look amazingly old fashioned? Well obviously the fossils are old fashioned to the tune of several million years, but the type written descriptions, hand cut out with a pair of scissors to give that not quite straight look, really make it look dated. And then I saw this. So very carefully hand drawn. It must have taken ages to get the typing lined up so perfectly. Some how I found these displays in a dusty not so well visited corner of the museum so much more engaging than the big flashy displays found else where. They seem more personal somehow. Sometimes something simple comes in to our lives and makes us realise just how much things have changed in our life times. I wonder if my parents felt like this when they were in their 40's, or have things changed at a faster rate between 1990 when I turned 20 and now, than they did between 1964 when they turned 20 and 1986 when they were my age. Who knows. I'll have to ask next time I speak to either of them. With much to ponder upon. Love Nora xx