Growing Up

I grew up in the old days of yesteryear. In today’s age, that’s a qualified term for 10-15 years ago.

I see my cousins and their many, incredible video games. PSII and games like Halo, which many of us currently play.

No. I grew poor, and in Europe - and I grew 10-15 years ago. A VCR was an incredible device when my mother finally managed to buy one, and we worshiped that machine. My older brother prohibited us from touching it and would clean the dust off every other day.

Computers? I knew they existed, and a friend studying administration told me in the future everybody would depend on them. Still, I’d never seen one, nevermind knowing how to use them.

Funny as it may sound, at age 15, my greatest hobby was catching birds - me, my brothers, and many other kids living in the same area. Many times I skipped class, because I thought I would finally catch that bird with the orange chest that would make every other kid jealous. Maybe I could breed it and sell it for money, like some did.
To catch them, we set up net traps,which would lie on a field disguised under a thin layer of sand and weeds. It became an art to set up the perfect trap for the right birds. From the right food, to the details of setting up a small body of water. We learned details such as setting a small branch by the trap - because we discovered no bird in its right mind would ever land anywhere in the vicinity of our trap otherwise. Birds like a branch where they can examine their surroundings and quickly fly off - so we provided them branches near the food and water body, out of reach of the trap - just so they could examine it and ensure no danger existed. Once satisfied - which took from 3 days to 2 weeks, they would start regularly flocking in with their mates. We were patient and never caught a bird within the first week, so as to let it atract other birds to the area.
Sometimes no bird would show, and we simply place a caged bird by the trap, alongside the branch, food, and water. Other birds would very often flock to the trap as a result. A special glue was often used as well, to cover small branches, which would trap small birds.

I’m sorry - it’s what I did at 15 years of age. I split my time between birds, Soccer, and pranks.

I was numbed when I first got my first electronic game - a sega gamegear. We worshiped that thing, and I played it so much I started having dreams about the games. That was just a prelude of what would follow. Today everything I do involves a computer or some type of advanced device.

I don’t question how important they are, but at the same time it’s striking how we can go from being very connected to the outdoors, to being very connected to the indoors.

Just a senseless conglomerate of thoughts.