Things change, things stay the same

I've lived in Cape Town since I was 15 so I am indeed a proud Capetonian, the best city in the world. My formative years were spent in Wales and England and no matter how Cape Town I feel, I'm still a Brit at heart. That's why it's sad watching the demise of old familiar places. Woolworths (UK), how can they be gone, just like that. I haven't been so astonished since CNA went on the skids. Some things are meant to last. I see Wedgewood/Waterford is going under administration, how can this be? and so the list is growing.
My mother, grandmother and probably great grandmother worked in the mills in Lancashire - cotton mills. I believe there isn't one cotton mill left in the UK, no more toy factories and don't get me started on the fabrics that are no longer available.
But it's progress. We are no longer personel, now we're resources, human resources, yuch.
It's common knowledge among friends and family that I don't have much time for cell 'phones. They have their uses, a few. Shia LaBoeuf is quoted as saying that cell 'phones were supposed to bring us closer together but in fact we're further apart, we no longer talk on the 'phone, we text.
But to each her own, I LOVE my IPod touch, I think the internet is AMAZING and I'm still gobsmacked when I have a conversation with my mum in Perth just like that.
Who would ever have thought that we would watch the planes hit the twin towers - live - from the office, stand in the kitchen and watch a tsunami wipe out hundreds of thousands of people?? We're watching the Gaza war each night as if it's a soapie. I hope we don't become desensitised.
I do still want to find joy in the gentle face of a baby, wonder at the sight of whales out at sea, be awestruck by a waterfall and saddened by the plight of the needy.
But life is a circle, we're back to the old natural ways of eating, self medicating, growing food. At @Home you can buy a nifty gadget which will core and peel an apple. One of the original ones can be seen at the Tulbagh museum, I believe it dates from Victorian times.
Which is why I throw nothing away!