“And so wags the world, the great pendulum swung by the sun through space.”
The morning is an ugly one. It has been raining, and the damp air is chilly. I’m wearing my cold day ensemble of a sweatshirt, flannel pants and fleece socks. My heat keeps coming on to keep the cold at bay. Today feels like a winter’s day.
I have a concert today, the second this week. I organized my music book last night. Next week we start practicing Christmas music. We’ll start our Christmas concerts in a couple of weeks. I love Christmas concerts.
My father used to say he wanted to come back in his next life as a pet in any of our houses. I’m sure my dogs would agree, but they are curled up asleep on the couch, and I’d hate to disturb them.
I mostly live in my den. The TV is here, my computer too. It is just a few steps to the bathroom and down the hall from the kitchen. My table here is huge, a metal table. Anything I need, except food, is within reach. Right now my computer is on my lap and my feet are resting on the tabletop. I’m watching a movie with resurrected dinosaurs wreaking havoc on an island paradise.
When I was a kid, there were certainties. Oreos came in only one variety. Televisions were black and white. Cereal, except for oatmeal, was loaded with sugar, but we put sugar on it anyway, especially on the sugarless oatmeal which was always lumpy. Boots had shoes inside. We only took a bath on Saturdays. Sunday was the big family dinner. The rest of the week we ate supper. Vegetables mostly came in cans. My mother grocery shopped once a week. We had three sets of clothes: school clothes, play clothes and church clothes. You never mixed and mingled except for the shoes and the winter coats. Fathers worked. Mothers didn’t. We were free roamers. Santa Claus always watched, and we tempted fate by being bad.
My life now still has a regularity. Most days start and end the same way. Only the middles are different, but not very different.
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November 9, 2023 at 2:52 pm
Hi Kat,
Here the sky today is cloudy with off and on rain showers. The high temperature occurrd this morning right before the cold front approached. The high temperature was last night after midnight of 73° and the low will be 54°. Right now it’s a damp 58°. We still need the rain to make up for that very hot and dry summer.
My aunt used to say that she wanted to come back as a dog in a Jewish household, her household. Of course, she made the dog a special version of scrambled eggs every morning and she tossed him food while she cooked lunch and dinner.
My wife and I spend a lot of time in our den where the 65” TV is located. We have TVs located all over the place including in each bedroom and in the home office. We can even see the TV at the table in the breakfast area while eating our meals. We converted the formal dining room into an exercise room.
Almost all of the certainties in life that you mentioned were also certainties in our house. Times were much simpler back then. We only had one TV which was located in our den. We ate all of our meals in the breakfast area where we could easily see the TV. There were only four monochrome TV channels back then. Now, between cable and streaming we have hundreds of choices of things to watch. Unfortunately, we only watch a small portion of what’s available. Most of what’s on cable is junk. Having too many choices can be overwhelming.
I’m considering cutting the cord to the cable boxes. I think we can save a couple of hundred dollars a month by just having high speed internet from the cable provider. Each TV in the house has a Roku device and we can get local programming through YouTube for a lot less money.
November 9, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Hi Bob,
It stopped raining in the late afternoon. By then it was in the high 40’s where it has stayed since then. The low will be just about the same.
We all spoil our pets. I remember bringing Shauna, my first boxer, to visit my parents. It was St. Patrick’s Day. My father made her a plate to celebrate the day. They both had ice cream for dessert.
A TV that big in my den would make it seem as if I were in the first row of a movie theater. Mine is 51″ and is plenty big enough. It is the only TV I have. I’m good with just the one.
Our TV was in the living room. My parents had a small one in their bedroom. We never ate dinner within sight of the TV. Besides, it was turned off during supper. We kids could watch in the living room with Saturday breakfast and some lunches. The four stations were enough back then. I watch a lot of cable as regular TV is so limited.
I pay my cable for TV, the internet and a land line. It isn’t cheap, but I don’t go to movies or out to dinner much so the entertainment value is high.
November 9, 2023 at 7:40 pm
One of the TVs that came with the house in the den was 65”. When it failed, I replaced with one the same size. All the TVs in the house were attached to the walls. I guess my family in the 1950s was considered a modern family because we watched TV while eating. Are you enjoying your new hot water heater? 🙂