the joys of connection

already an internet connection at home is paying off.  last night we had cable internet installed after six months without it (since our return from oz).  we've learned to accommodate the inconvenience by spending many hours at the coffee shop and juggling spotty email correspondence.  while we've felt the peace of a luddite-like household, being off line has been particularly costly in our international communication with family and friends.

straight away last night geoff contacted his family who are together on holiday in queensland - the wilsons down from png and kev and kath up from melbourne.  we longed to be together, especially in the tropical warmth.  at the time of this skype call i was upstairs with a vomiting boy.  then today, out of the blue as geoff and i were ordering seeds from an online garden catalog, we had a call from the turners of london.  it was an overwhelming joy to see their faces broadcast into the late-afternoon gloom of our kitchen.  we haven't spoken in months and our hearts lurched as we realized how much we miss them.  we're back online and i never thought i'd say how glad i am about it.