What do you miss?

Today while reading Giles Coren’s article in The Times of London entitled, “Darn it, all the old skills are disappearing” about the passage of sock darning, crocheting, whistling, weather adages (“red sky at night, sailor’s delight”) and the like, it made me consider what if anything I miss about the past that didn’t make it into the future. Frankly, upon a speedy reflection, I am more inclined to list what I don’t miss about the past than the other way around.

To my never-ending discredit, I recall when computers first hit my law office in the early 1980s. I was totally and shamelessly resistant.  I took the haughty position (I tend to be singularly minded) that we hadn’t the need of a computer because we already had blank forms upon the creation of which I had expended considerable effort and analysis and which we were at liberty to reproduce when needed on the Xerox. My secretaries then completed the forms on their IBM Selectric typewriter (adding specific client and transaction detail) and photocopied the completed document several times for the other lawyer (or mortgage company), my client and my file. It was a format which had worked well for us for the previous decade.

Needless to say, that quaint production evaporated in an instant with the employment of computers and laser printers. Thereafter I was upgrading every year to the latest device.

Technology did it once again with the Apple Watch.  I had always enjoyed time pieces for their mechanical and artistic display. By contrast the Apple Watch was to my mind not only static but strictly utilitarian (though at the time I doubt I knew it could do more than tell the time). Now – again, by contrast – the other day when cycling for example, rather than trouble to extract my iPhone from my pocket – and avoiding the necessity to dial a number – I simply spoke into my Apple Watch, directing it to call whomever and within seconds I was connected and chatting. That’s a very different playing field than Rolex, Cartier or Brietling which now strain to preserve what is considered their limited utility of time and ostentation..

I would be remiss were I fail to bring up once again the subject of the “EV” (what is popularly identified as the fully-electric vehicle). For me the transition from gasoline powered to EV has been instantaneous. No doubt it helps that the car I have is contemporaneously comfortable and quiet. It is moderately larger than the XT4 (which I deliberately bought in order to downsize from the Lincoln Aviator). I believe the additional size contributes to the appeal of the EV (which I reckon Cadillac intentionally manufactured to replace the XT4 no longer in production after 2025).

But here’s something I DO miss: the piano – or what is now more often referred to as an “acoustic” piano (that is, a musical instrument without electrical amplification) because of the frequent retail competition from electronic pianos. I have had three acoustic pianos in my lifetime; viz., a Mason & Risch upright, a Heintzman grand and a Steinway salon grand.

History and Reputation:
Mason & Risch was a prominent Canadian piano manufacturer, known for building high-quality instruments.They established a significant retail network and even sold pianos internationally.

Apart from missing playing the piano generally, I have learned that the electronic pianos are weak competition for the real thing.  Some time ago I purchased an electronic piano. There is no question the sound level vastly improved with headphones (which I fear is a small compliment). Much of the advantage of the electronic piano is its capacity to mimic violins, organs and other instruments in sync with the so-called “regular” percussion. This makes for a far more inventive playing process but I hesitate to say it improves the sound.

Increasingly I have grown to miss my parents.  I have always said that my mother was my best friend,  My father – though removed – was always at hand in a moment of need. Oddly the thing I miss most about my parents is not having them to tell about matters of my current excitement and entertainment.  They were always interested in what I was doing; and, for whatever reason, I always felt that they were the first with whom to share my fortune and disappointment. Their approbation fortified my sentimentality. The only way I can think of reinforcing this proclivity is to enjoy life. I don’t expect to live as long as my father (he died when he was just short of 20 years older than I am now). Anyway, longevity has never been my aim – strictly, au courant so to speak. If the mechanics of my body disintegrate, then it’s morphine and a body bag for me.

In conclusion, “What do I miss?” – the answer is really nothing. In fact I am perpetually grateful for the life I now enjoy with my partner. I wistfully recall using my mother’s Smith Corona typewriter; or the variety of diaries, books and writing materials I used in the past; the Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible (the roof of which was destroyed by snowing falling from my office roof); cigarettes, cigars, pipes and pipe tobacco; martinis (that’s a definite!) – and, the latest and most emphatic deprivation – carrot cake from the Antrim Truck Stop. Oh my!  The Sacrament of Heaven!