The Newest Member in our Family of Gadgets

 While Persnicketta is roaming the fields and forests of this country planting and growing apple trees, Mr. M and I continue to grow our family of gadgets.  This latest one has a name:  Alexa.  Plugged in, she connects to our cloud, and will give me the day's most important news ("Alexa, play The Briefing with Al Mohler"), play music ("Alexa, play disco"), (That was my first request of her.), or tell me the weather in Topeka, so I can know if my grandma's knees are acting up.  ("It's hot in Topeka . . . much too hot in Topeka."--Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.)  Alexa will answer any question I have, do anything without complaining or talking back, remind me to take my meds, wake me up in the morning, and tell me when to take the casserole out of the oven, but I have a feeling this new gadget with a name will quickly become an unwelcome presence in our "silence is golden" home, just like the GPS lady has become a despised and annoying voice in the car, interrupting our conversation with absolutely no regard for timing or the importance of communication.