Nothin’ On Television

Terry Sprague | Apr 12, 2011 | Comments 4

I was talking to a friend last night over the telephone who says that she gave up her television, as there was just nothing worthwhile to watch and it was getting too expensive. I know what she’s saying. We pay something like $82 a month for the benefit of watching commercials. The 200+ choices we do have are inane comedies, repeats, French stations that I can’t understand, sports that I don’t care for, endless Galaxie music stations of which I listen to only one or two, Pay Per Vu stations which I can’t afford on top of the already hideous monthly charge, and commercials that never cease. I am fed up eating my lunch while listening to commercials on feminine products, erectile dysfunction and skin tags. So, we will likely follow my friend’s example and, at least, drop our programming down to just the basics, featuring the weather and the news. That’s often depressing enough. We will follow the example of our friend who spends more time in family conversation, reading and quiet meditation. After all, we know that Victor will never change on the Young and the Restless, Nikki will always be whispering, Phyllis will always be snooping in everybody’s business, Katherine Chancellor will always be sharp as a tack, Daniel “Ravioli” will struggle with being a father, and every resident in Genoa City will have mated with each other at some point in the show’s 38 year history. It is time, as my friend has discovered, to return to a simpler life, enjoy a good book, go for a walk in the woods and absorb the natural and the realistic. If we learned how to walk, we wouldn’t be parking in handicapped zones, reserved for the truly handicapped. Who would have thought that our first black and white Rogers Majestic television in the late 1940s would evolve into what it has today.

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About the Author: Terry Sprague became interested in nature at an early age. "Growing up on the family farm at Big Island, 12 miles north of Picton, on the shore of the beautiful Bay of Quinte, I was always interested in the natural world around me. During my elementary school days at the small one-room school I attended on Big Island, I received considerable encouragement from the late Marie Foster, my teacher in Grades 6 through 8. Her home was a short distance from where I lived and through the years she was responsible for developing my interest in birds. The late Phil Dodds, a former editor with the Picton Gazette, also a great nature enthusiast, suggested I undertake a nature column - a column I have submitted weekly since 1965. The column has since expanded to the Napanee Beaver and the Tweed News. Life has been good, and through the years I have enjoyed working with such nature related agencies as Glenora Fisheries Research as a resource technician, Sandbanks Provincial Park as a park interpreter and Quinte Conservation as a naturalist and outdoor events coordinator. As a nature interpreter, currently working from my home office, I now create and lead numerous interpretive events in the area and offer indoor audio/visual presentations to interested groups. Could one who is interested in nature have enjoyed a more exhilarating period in the work force?" Terry's website is www.naturestuff.net

Nothin’ On Television

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