Sometimes, it feels like a cruel trick. Modern conveniences, like this handy little mac I'm using right now, are not really essential. Neither is a cell phone. Maybe they are both giving me cancer. In fact, what ISN'T giving me cancer?

Oh yes, I've thought about this.

It's not just for that reason alone that life without these things might be better. When Nick and I lived in Manchester, we didn't have a TV. I don't even remember having a radio. We played cards and drank tea almost every night. We talked. The same is true of my 1st time in Romania. One of my favorite memories of that time is me and my friends sitting around drinking wine and talking about nothing that felt like Everything. Or that time we played Spoons at Dorothy's house and made the neighbors angry because we were so loud.

I'm an unlikely candidate to live in a commune and make my own peanut butter. But oh how I want to visit such a place. At least often enough to remind me what is important.