20160106 (slideshow)

Mountains at lake Tahoe, California

Andy

 Krista

Nathaniel 

We gathered to scatter Peter's ashes in the mountains

I’ve just flicked through

Two Facebook friends' pics

Of their trip to the Scottish

Highlands and Ireland. I

Thanked him for posting

Them. They were quite 

Lovely, well-composed,

Clear (as opposed to blurred

Which isn’t necessarily a

Criterion for FB posts),

Taken from interesting 

Angles, and labelled for

The most part. I’ve written

Of this before—it’s today’s

Slide show or passing of

The pics among your friends

At church during the coffee

Fellowship. We had to give

Up something for the easy

Distribution of images and

What we gave up was the

Social aspect, the face

To face of answering “What

Is this Kathleen’s holding?”

Or explaining, “That’s my

Cousin Tim from the little

Village down the road.”

Slideshows in one’s home

Were such a big deal—

Rearranging chairs, couches,

Setting up the screen, placing

The projector so all could

See, and darkening the room

While leaving enough light

For guests to get to the 

Restroom (id est, toilet),

Enough utensils or paper

Plates for finger-food, and

Reviewing the carousels to

See the slides would show

In proper order and not 

Reversed. Like so many

Shows in middle school

It’d be all set up but

Wouldn’t work until

The A-V guru came and 

Fiddled, threw his pixie

Dust at it, only then could

The show really begin.

They’d always leave in

An embarrassing shot to

Kick a little humor in

Despite the insult to the

Spouse who didn’t want 

It shown. Some people

Did them well—repartee

And colorful coverage;

Some couldn’t mask they’d

Been fighting the whole

Trip and at the end nobody

Stayed for coffee and one

Could hear the bickering

Resume after the last guest

Drove away. What once

Was a special night out

Becomes a “like” traveling

At the speed of light and

Lasting as long as a flash.

Not quite the reward one

Expected for flying a couple

Thousand miles, hesitating

At each site to get the right

Shot, and spending God

Knows what. I’m not

Thumbing my nose at FB,

Which can be quite pleasant

When people really respond.

Farewell to the lantern show.

Sadly there is a cost for

The “Like.”

c. J.S.Manista, 2016