Telegraph

In 1809, a crude telegraph was invented in Bavaria by Samuel Soemmering. He used 35 wires with gold electrodes in water and at the receiving end 2000 feet the message was read by the amount of gas caused by electrolysis. In 1828, the first telegraph in the USA. was invented by Harrison Dyar who sent electrical sparks through chemically treated paper tape to burn dots and dashes.. However, it was Samuel Morse that successfully exploited the electromagnet and was able to create a telegraph system that was a practical and commercial success. Hence "Morse Code".

In today's times, we communicate by phone, text, email, body language...in fact, most of our relationships with others are done via electronics. Whether it is saying hello, asking someone to pick up milk on their way home, ending a relationship, a lot of communication is done via texting. While conventional, it is terribly impersonal. 

I believe the true art of journalism has been effected by this "revolutionary" electronic form of communication. Before Morse Code, the only form of long distance communication was by hand written letters delivered via horseback riding messengers. Thank goodness for letter writing, otherwise, would the New Testament even exist? 

I have a friend whose family started a tradition about a year ago where each child in the family has to write a letter, an actual letter, to everyone in the family. The contents of the letter can be whatever they desire, from what is happening in their lives to opinions about politics...Once a month, each of these family members receives a letter, via snail mail, an actual letter, from the parent or sibling whose month it is to write. This method, while unconventional in today's times, holds great value to me. Think about the future, when a few years have passed and the letters are compiled in a binder somewhere. How cool it would be to peruse through those letters and see what life looked like at that time, from that person's perspective. 

As a parent, I think this is an interesting approach to keeping a family close in an otherwise impersonal text happy world. Letter writing in this form is equivalent to taking a photograph. It freezes time and documents it so that history is made. I believe that this method of contact can keep a family rooted because they are communicating with one another. Essentially, they are taking time to share a part of themselves and investing in one another, even if it is only on paper.

Perhaps this is why I blog. To reflect on my past, to see how much I have grown, how much my children have grown and to put a piece of myself in history....so that in today's fast moving times of 4G networks and high speed internet, I can freeze frame a moment and make it timeless.