Don't really miss it

We have recently taken a couple of trips that required time in a hotel. One of the things that we have access to in hotels that we do not have at home is satellite or cable tv. Yes, it's true, we do not have any TV reception of any kind at the farm. Last summer, our satellite stopped working and we just decided to have it taken down. We don't pick anything up with the antenna -so there you go.

At this point, we can tell you that we do not regret this decision.

Of course, we turned the tv on while in the hotel room. And what did we see? Nothing that looked horribly different from when we saw it last. Lots of channels with nothing truly interesting to see. The news was still being reported with urgency (and repetition) by multiple channels - always with the assumption that yesterday's news is old news (even if you hadn't already heard). In sports, the news was all about T.O. (if you don't know who that is - good for you!). Lots of commercials that were either irritating, misleading, annoying or all three. And, the stupid thing was still as mesmerizing as ever. I think it has something to do with the belief that surely something was coming up that would make the moments spent watching it worthwhile. The good news - we found it much easier to turn off.

Don't get me wrong - we do like some shows and movies. But, since we dropped satellite we have:

• spent more time playing board and card games together
• watched more movies we really wanted to see in the theater or at home (with no commercial interruptions)
• turned over the 'to do' list more rapidly (yes R is a list maker - first on list - make list)
• read more books

Perhaps the biggest thing is that we found ourselves going to bed sooner in the summer. Ok, that sounds odd. But, hear me out.

We do work long days during the growing and harvesting season. By the time we hit the end of the day, we're really tired. With a working dish for tv, we found ourselves just flipping the thing on and letting the brain go on autopilot. The problem is - when you get that tired, it is hard to get the motivation to get up and turn the machine off and go to bed. Everyone who has had a long day and has plopped in front of the tele knows exactly what I mean.

Besides, I'd like to avoid the situation of being asked about what I've done in my life and have to answer - "Well, I didn't do much, but I DID see this cool thing on tv....."