everyone's an expert

We went to visit Memaw and PawPaw this weekend, after learning that the hotel was being taken over by not only a wedding, but also a family reunion. Ugh. At this point, dealing with "weekenders" is like being a senior living in the college dorms - you're over it. The drive to their place is beautiful. It's almost entirely back roads, and the ever-changing scenery makes the drive go quickly. Britton wanted her window down, and was downright excited about the wind! I grabbed my phone and took some pictures. And, as I'm apt to do in the car, I just went ahead and edited them.

At lunch with Memaw - her first banana split....

Taken last week in the car too (at a stoplight, I promise!)

And this afternoon, crashed out after some swimming.  I had a moment of deja vu, and then remembered in a flash her birth announcement picture.  Just shy of three years separates these moments...

And on the drive, I was showing the hub the pictures, and I mentioned that nowadays, you can be an expert at anything.  Not even ten years ago, I had to drop off film to be developed, just hoping there was a good shot in the pile.  Now I can edit photos taken on my phone.  Apps give us access to filters and effects that professional photographers had exclusively. 

Not only photos - every house we viewed during our house search the hub and I found online.  We searched the real estate sites, and sent a list of prospects to our realtor.  No longer do house hunters have to sit by and hope their realtor finds a gem - now we can find it for ourselves.

I don't recommend it, but I still do it.  Googling your medical symptoms.  Heck yes, I've checked WebMD to see if something is worrisome or nothing.  I've checked message boards and websites for advice on all things baby, consumer reports on major purchases, and reviews on books and movies.  Why ask one person's opinion when I can have the world's?

It's crazy how much technology we have at our fingertips on a daily basis, how much information is so readily available to us.  Growing up we had a set of encyclopedias, outdated the minute they are printed.  But it's how I wrote most reports for school growing up, because other than the library, it's all we had.  If I can be an "expert" photographer or "expert" realtor, of course, expert in the sense of the finished project, but not the methods - what will Britton have?  Our kids really will have it all.