What on earth did we do in the days before cell phones and Facebook? How did we survive?

For all the conveniences and entertainment value inherent in today’s technology, sometimes I find myself missing the “good ol’ days,” when children had to use their imagination to entertain themselves, or, heaven forbid, read a book. (The old-fashioned kind — the ones with paper pages that required you to use your hand to turn them, not today’s Star Trekkie, push-button kind.)

I guess this is the lament of every generation. My parents probably mourned the passing of the phonograph record as cassette tapes and CDs took over. But in today’s ever evolving technology, even CDs are on the way out, as digital MP-3 players and iPods take over.

I’m not saying technology is a bad thing — I couldn’t imagine preparing a meal these days without using my microwave for something and I would be lost without my cell phone.

But I think it would be fun to load the kids up and take a stroll back in time this weekend at Rendezvous Days, going on through Sunday just south of Coupeville. (See Melanie Hammons’ story on page 6.)

It’s a great way to showcase how far we’ve come, and bring history to life for our kids, and for us parents, too, for that matter. It’s easy to forget that at one time people actually did have to walk two miles (or more) in the snow to get to school, just like Mom and Dad said. And opening the freezer and defrosting something in the microwave never used to play a role in dinner preparations.

Today’s technological advances across all aspects of our lives, and that includes the technology applied every day in the military, would have boggled the mind of a trapper or trader in the 1700s.

Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate what you have  until you see how hard it was to achieve it.

-Kathy Reed, editor