We had one last stroll along the boardwalk, listening for strains of Brother, Can You Spare a Dime from a small but live orchestra.

It’s not all bad, this New Agey communication. I have friends on facebook who enjoy life and friends who enjoy life and can still take the time to discuss life’s lesser moments like the destruction of hundred year-old trees on a broad boulevard in Barcelona. We don’t ignore the plight of carriage horses in Central Park and can link to friends who rescue horses on a sanctuary in the Hudson River Valley. We can write about our causes and report on political demonstrations we’ve attended. We can be happy for each other’s country when it gets something right, like the recent Supreme Court decision to hear the case of Troy Davis, an innocent man on death row.

But sometimes the human voice, the handwritten note or, even better letter are what lifts the spirits. Drifting away from the late-night crowds only just beginning to make their way home the last song from the karaoke bunch on the boardwalk lingers behind us. You just cannot imagine Stevie Wonder singing: “I just e-mailed, or I just twittered…” No, it can only be, “I just called to say I love you.”