The Future

What is happening in this world? So much has happened and there is more still to happen. When looking into my ancestors and their lives, I wonder what issues they would have been dealing with way back when…

Jump Aboard.

I can only imagine what issues they may have experienced. I am mainly thinking about my ancestors who decided to leave what they knew, jump on board a ship and sail to Australia. My mind goes to one of my great-grandfathers who travelled with his family in 1912.

Titanic.

Looking into history, the Titanic sank on the 15th of April 1912. My great-grandfather and his family set sail from England in October of the same year. What would the entire family have thought? We will never know. My grandfather was only one at the time. They arrived safely in December 1912.

Questions.

There are many questions that will go unanswered. I can check newspapers to get the ideas of what life was like for them before they started their journey and again after their arrival. Any details found are only general and may never be personalised. Well, unless there were diaries or letters kept or written by them.

One Year Old.

The life of a one-year-old who commenced their beginnings in another country, may have never had the understanding of their life. Their first years in a place their parents had brought them too may have been, shall we say “a bit out there.” Their first steps, their first words. What would it have been like?

Jumping 45 years.

Jumping forward roughly 45 years to when I was born, I don’t have any or much recollection of those early years.

I can only fill in bits from what I was told by my parents and in particular my mother. Some of the stories are interesting, but were they true? Things my mother may have remembered, may have been different or not exactly the truth. I will never know.

21^st Century.

Let’s jump forward to the 21st century. We can ask the questions. What is life like? What things have changed in my lifetime? Wow, a huge question? We’d be creating an extremely long list. But for me, one thing that stands out is technology.

Green Screen.

My touch with technology changes, began in the 1980s. A home PC with a green screen.

An extremely slow modem. Probably fast in the day. Writing simple computer programs in basic and getting excited! Console games via cartridges and plugged to a TV. Thinking about this now – pixelated objects on the screen…

Enquiring Mind.

Throughout my life, I would say, I was lucky to have an enquiring mind. I would always be asking questions. Probably too many! I read a lot. I would find out about different subjects and ask more questions. Note: no computers or mobile phones, like today.

Farm.

One set of my grandparents lived on a farm. I had the experience of milking a cow, feeding chickens that ran free. Walking in nature with no hindrance from electronic devices. I was free to do what I wanted. Of course, within the limits set by my parents and grandparents.

Strange.

This day and age is strange. Everyone and I really do mean everyone, has a machine stuck to their hand or in their face. Some don’t even watch where they are walking! Go figure. Then, there are other conversations one hears. The questions. The answers.

Where Does?

So, here we are. I’ll give you some questions from youngsters.

1. Where does milk come from? 2. Where do eggs come from? 3. How is bread made? Now the replies. Answers to one and two – the supermarket. Three: an addition to that word – “in” – in the supermarket. Here is the future.

Oh, and if you don’t know the answers to those three questions, you can use your device to look them up…

Acknowledgements.

The text of each section was used and interrupted by Canva AI to generate all the pics in this writing.