Yesterday was beautiful and I spent a fair amount of time on the porch until the breeze became a bit more intense and pollen flew everywhere. The rain is supposed to hold off until sometime this afternoon and right now it’s sunny.

I’ll take it.

We had a FaceTime chat with Little Z yesterday. He is obsessed with elevators and knows pretty much everything about them. He’s smart as a whip, you know, and listening to him rattle off his knowledge is pretty darned amazing.

Don and I were telling him about the elevators that were around when we were kids, the kind that had actual elevator operators. We told him all about their uniforms and the little seat that came out from the wall of the elevator so the operator could sit if needed. We talked about the J.L. Hudson department store in downtown Detroit (and department stores across the country,) where the operator would announce the departments that were on a particular floor, so you knew what floor to go to for a certain item. Don talked about the famous outdoor elevator which was on the El Cortez building in San Diego.

This morning Don sent Z lots of photos and a newsreel about the El Cortez elevator. Z loved it,

As expected, Don and I chatted about it during this morning’s second cup of coffee. Everything is so impersonal these days. No more elevator operators (you just felt safer on an elevator when they were in charge,) no more gas stations where your gas was pumped, your oil was checked, your windows were cleaned and your tires were checked. I know they still pump gas in New Jersey, but I don’t think they do the other stuff. (Correct me if I’m wrong!) Robots doing jobs that real people used to do. And we all know how frustrating it is to get any sort of customer service on the phone. I could go on and on, but it’s a very different world nowadays. And a great deal has been lost because of it.

Don is off to take some portraits today. He did that yesterday, as well. Last week he took a photo of Chris Hayes (of MSNBC) and his family and friends. He has a house in our area.

The porch is looking good. The potted flowers are filling out and growing by leaps and bounds. It’s our summertime haven.

Happy June. May we have less rain please? And Happy Anniversary to my parents, who were married on June 1, 1946. What I wouldn’t give to call them up and wish them a happy anniversary!

Happy Saturday.