just the awe

I have no reason why I woke up at 5 this morning (I am NOT the morning person...), so I took the freshly-made rye out of the bread machine (which I bought recently at a FABULOUS deal) and started some wheat-flax, then baked cinnamon roll waffles in the waffle iron.  I hear mom shifting about, so this morning, we attempted to call my half-sister in Thailand.

I dial out the phone numbers through a 5 dollar calling card, hand the phone to my mother, and hear a strange, long beep.  My sister in law  answers the phone, and my mother and her begin a loud exchange over my cell phone, which mom promptly takes outside.  It's 8 am here, the sun is just beginning to break past the city skyline, and there's enough light to see so she's outside watering her Asian corn and talking to my sister in Nan.

It's moments like this I find remarkable.  Thirty years ago, any phone call attempt is kind of hindered through international lines, costs a fortune, and you're dealing with operators along the way.  Now....somewhere, a signal bounced from this hand-held device, across the atmosphere, and over half a day and half a world away.  For less than five bucks.

The timbre of Thai, the singsong language of my mother's people, I find soothing.  Perhaps its the inflection, or the knowledge that whatever she's talking about (I don't understand the mothertongue) is totally mundane and the chatter of a loved one calling you, but it sets me at ease.  The rate at which our technology has advanced is astounding, but I'm grateful it makes it possible to connect my mother to her family in Thailand, from which she has been isolated so long.