Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Odds and Ends and Things of No Moment

I was passing though the living room today, on the way from the kitchen with my breakfast when I, once again, noticed the picture on our LG, 70", 4K TV which has upscaleing  to make regular HD to "nearly" 4K.  Doggone thing is about an inch thick.  Always makes me thing of my father.  He love his TV.

When and where I grew up, we normally only had one TV station and that depended on which way we pointed the antenna.  We could pick NBC or ABC.  CBS was always a little "iffy".  And, we always needed a "booster".  Attach one part to the antenna and the other to the TV.  It helped a lot but still we had to pick our station.  To change someone (me) had to go to the top of the hill and turn the antenna.

Mostly we just watched NBC.  My parents (both) were devoted to "Another World" and "Days of our Lives".  Growing up I knew more about Rachel and Russ, Cory, all the other men she married or slept with, than the real people around me. (Well, maybe not the female ones) They were few, far between and mostly boring but that is neither here not there.

I just have to wonder what my dad would have thought.  Huge screen, picture quality like looking at a real place and 300 channels.  Pretty big change from a 23" black and white with one channel.

Of course that was when we lived in a  place with electricity.  Then it was zero channels.

I wonder if that is not something which has exacerbated our distancing ourselves from others.  We are so consumed by technology we may have forgotten how to be "just people".




Tuesday, September 12, 2017

A Poem I Heard Today

I was out today and heard a poem while listening to NPR.  It was about a dream of one's childhood and a prayer the dream was real.  While my childhood was not the most idyllic there were  times I would happily repeat.  This is inspired by that poem.

Back When
=============================================

Back when I was much younger
In body and mind
We lived way out in the country
Where the only people around
Were my relatives.

I had never fit in
My parents had never allowed me
To fit in
So, I learned to live alone
And, to love being alone

I would not want to re-experience
Most of the days from my childhood
Since there was little there to love
But, there are a few times
Which, somewhat, make up for  it.

Spending hours sitting under
A Hazelnut bush eating ripe Hazelnuts
Finding a Paw Paw tree with ripe fruit
And gorging myself
While hoping some squirrel
Would come along to take them from me.

Times out along with my Beagle
Hunting Rabbits
Or, just being away from home
Being alone was my happy place
Did not have to accomplish anything

Thunder storms with wild wind
An rain tossing the tree limbs
About as if establishing their dominance
While I sat with a small fire
And just enjoyed the show.

I am sure it is why I am so content
On my own
I learned early in my life
Loving anything was a road to heartache
I wonder if that made it impossible for me to love