We are putting up a new fence. Prior to the new fence going up, the old fence had to come down which, of course, opened up our backyard considerably. It also put us in contact with the neighbours behind us, a couple who had lived there for more than twelve years without our ever having exchanged a word. The 'coming down of the fences' meant that we all started talking with each other - the neighbours on both sides and behind us - and everyone was so happy to discover that they had such lovely neighbours! This 'boxing' up of people, either behind fences or in flats and units is, no doubt, part of the present day communication problem. Apart from the fact that everyone has a mobile phone and can talk with anyone, anywhere, any time, we do not seem to be able to 'communicate' and part of the problem seems to be architectural.

Thank you, Peter and Annette, for your comments, which give quite a lot of food for thought. I suppose it is true that everything moves on and changes and, as we regret the loss of handwritten letters, we must also give a thought to those, who experienced the loss of stone tablets or papyrus. I suppose that in a spiral-kind of fashion, everything eventually repeats itself. And, yes, I do agree with you, Annette, that new technology has made communication almost instant (which compares favourably to the three months that it used to take a letter to move between Europe and Australia back in the nineteenth century). Nevertheless, an awareness of all the above does not completely negate the feeling of loss, as hand-written letters become relegated to the past.

By chance, I found an article on the subject, published in SMH last year (and sent to me by someone special). I have scanned it and, hopefully, you may be able to read it by clicking on the images to make them bigger.

Finally, several people have contacted me and said that they would love to leave a comment, but they don't have a Google Account and they don't want to 'sign up' for an account. It is not necessary to have an account to leave a comment. Click on the arrow (next to Google) and go down to Name/URL. Click there and then write your name in the space provided. Write your comment and then click on post comment. It couldn't be easier!

Following on from my post yesterday - I suppose I am wondering if hand-written letters (and all the thoughts and memories associated with them) will disappear, like quill pens and bottled ink. After all, how many people, reading this post, remember writing with nib pens and all the debate, when the first, rather faulty biros arrived? Eventually, no doubt, the idea of ever having written letters by hand will be regarded as rather 'quaint' (and, of course, 'frightfully time-consuming'). Thank goodness that we have been able to save all that time, which we can now use to tap out inane messages on our mobile phones.

In this age of electronic communication, I wonder how many people still treasure hand-written letters, carefully folded in original envelopes and kept, silently, in dark drawers or boxes, closed with worn ribbons? Open an old letter and all those moments and memories come rushing back, through the faded paper and the recognizable writing and just that particular shade of ink. The faces; the places - it was raining; it was sunny; the postman handed me the letter, as I opened the door. . . . . It has all become part of the letter.

Will a saved electronic message communicate the same kinds of things, in ten years time, twenty years time, forty years time. . . .?

Over the past few days, there has been some kind of technical 'hitch' and your comments, though seemingly okay when you sent them, have not fastened on to my site. I am letting you know this, so that you don't think that I have deleted your comments intentionally. Those of you, who have left comments which did not appear on the site, might like to re-send them as, hopefully, the 'hitch' has now been sorted.

If you want to read more about the artwork, you can go to my website http://diane.eklund.abolins.net
Click on 'art' and then choose the option to look at some of my work. Finally, click on 'present work'.
By the way, this is my 100th post, so perhaps it is a cause for celebration!

(I worked it out).