It seems that I’m of an age now where I do rather predictable things — according to younger folks — such as always checking the obituaries first when I take up my daily papers.

Most probably many of you do the same thing as well. Not that I’m implying that you are, well, a bit mature in years.

Probably the next offering in the Daily News that I read is Sound Off. You, too?

Even on Tuesdays, when my “Write Again” column appears, I still go to the obituaries first, then Sound Off. Besides, I’ve already read my bit of journalistic jottings.

As our communications technology continues its relentless evolution, with new means of transmitting information appearing constantly, I still, stubbornly, choose to read the printed word in a newspaper. Old habits do, indeed, die hard. My papers, a cup of coffee in the early morning quiet is a true joy.

Oh, I’ll turn the TV on just to check if any really newsworthy events have taken place, or for updates on natural or man-caused tragedies. The morning news is more current, of course, via television. You can get a fairly good sense of how the planet and its people are faring in just a few minutes.

Of course, you can access (to use the patios of cyberspace) many newspapers with your computer. It’s still not as pleasant as reading a real paper, one you can hold, feel, pick up and put down, and pick up again as you wish. It’s hard to clip an item of interest out of a computer screen, wouldn’t you say?

I suspect my children get most of their news through TV or computer. Our grandchildren may not ever read a newspaper with any regularity. The times, they are a’changing … at warp-seeming speed.

For the more “mature” among us, old habits die hard, as they say.

On the rare mornings when the paper (or papers) doesn’t arrive, it seems like a part of my day — an important part — is missing.

For those who are younger, and who are not habitual readers of newspapers, a morning without a paper isn’t something of any importance at all.

This is simply the way of things. An enjoyment lost.

A pity.