I had hockey and baseball on.
Blindly, with my head spinning,
I thought I might just watch the news
while I waited for the sports to come back...
But of course, it's ALL off.
No TV.
My God it's quiet.
I feel a sort of tingle from it.
It's summer. The books, you know,
the books of my life,
are at the office.
At home I keep a book and paper free environment.
And I confess, I veg out at home,
TV, stereo, that sort of thing.
But now this quiet comes
unexpectedly.
Summer.
No class.
At home. Sports off.
And it's silent.
You know,
for all my love of the life of the mind,
I often clutter my mind (and my ears)
with noise.
Even my beloved hockey.
And so it's off now.
And it's delicious.
Why don't I know this?
How did I make it to this age
not knowing the value of the quiet.
Stay off, sweet dish.
Hockey play on.
But I will keep the screens clean
and let my mind unburden.
Keeping the screens clean--that's what summer break is for! Silence is a gift unavailable to the young, whose ears are ill-equipped to hear it.
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly delivered, Dr. Tingle. I love every post you offer.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I must say, after days of almost no posts, poor Dick gets snowed under with posts on his day! Arrrrrgggghhh.
DeleteYou gets what you gets, but I know what you mean. Hopefully everyone scrolls.
DeleteClean screens, love it.
ReplyDeleteI love this! Since I have no TV at home (not because I'm a militant anti-TV person, but because I live in a rural area in a house surrounded by trees, and to get any kind of signal on a dish, I'd have to cut down my favorite tree; for the record, they're ALL my favorite tree).
ReplyDeleteMy office books stay at the office, but my home books travel with me (on my iProduct) because I cannot be without reading material.
Despite being surrounded by trees at home, every summer, I do a somewhat silent pilgrimage of sorts that involves 2 weeks somewhere (else) in nature, strolling, looking only at tree bark and leaf detritus and a sky above that obliterates the memory of fluorescent lighting. This is because my job doesn't allow for me to stroll through musty humid woods away from any cell phone towers. If I do this at home, the 'ding' on my iProduct would remind me that a life exists outside of the forest. And I don't want that for the two weeks when my body is storing up enough energy to last another year.
As far as I'm concerned, summer is *for* escaping for extended periods to the printed page (not the/a screen), and, of course, outdoors. I'd be very unhappy in a paperless home (and still haven't gotten around to acquiring a TV that receives digital signals, or retrofitting the one I have. Yes, I know the changeover occurred early in the first Obama administration. No, resolving this situation isn't really on my to-do list for this summer. Maybe next.) To each of us hir own respite.
ReplyDelete