Sometimes when the wireless network is acting up and a website takes a long time to load, I remind myself how miraculous it all is. Here’s a technology that lets me read words someone is typing thousands of miles away. Here’s a technology that lets me do my work at home. Here’s a technology that lets me see pictures snapped minutes earlier on another continent.

Usually this little pep talk doesn’t work too well because I’m already miffed at the slow speed or the unreliability or whatever it is. I don’t understand the technology but have come to rely on it. And I realize, with dismay, that a moment of aggravation is not the best time to recapture the awe. Better to wait until things are smoother, till the website is up and running again.

But guess what? When the website is up and running I’m back to being oblivious, to taking at face value that which may as well be angels dancing on the head of a pin. It’s hard to appreciate things when they’re going well. Much better (but supremely difficult) to appreciate them when they don’t work at all.