Yup, ain't gonna do little techno-bird much good when a hawk swoops down and snatches him up. Hawks aren't virtual.

My grandchildren (8,7, and 5) were at the house this weekend; no computers, no video devices. We played Caroms, played cards, read books, played geography games with the big atlas ("find ... Andorra!", and hiked about 4 miles around the place, finding coyote sign and flushing rabbits. Then they went and swung on the same grapevines across the ravine that my boys used to swing on.

Many kids will never experience that. Just wiggling their thumbs bathed in dim LED lights staring into The Matrix.

Lannis