I know I am easily entertained

Kathleen Anderson

I am loving the sunshine we have enjoyed the last few days. Sunshine is healing for me. I have more energy and I get to spend time outdoors. I have been puttering around my garden. My chives are going crazy and my thyme and oregano are thriving and my bay leaf tree is reaching new heights.

I only mention this because all of these herbs have been completely ignored by me, which shows how independent they are.

My granddaughter is getting married in our yard in July, so I was also looking for places to bring in more “independent” plants to dress up her space.

I have also been cleaning drawers and closets, which were ignored for too long. This is a rather mindless indoor activity, so I turned on the television for background noise while I sorted and started hunting for a suitable program.

This proved more interesting than I anticipated. There are tons of shows I have never even heard of, much less watched.

The first one that caught my eye was the “Doctor Pimple Popper” show. Who watches this?  Teenagers? Other doctors? I can’t tell you anything about this show because I could not bring myself to tune in.

Next up was “Parolees and Pitbulls”. This information that came up centered on the rehabilitation of former prisoners, so I assume it has some redeeming purpose. But I am assuming, so don’t take my word for it because, again I didn’t watch it.

But I was beginning to sense a pattern.

I scrolled down until I spotted the “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” show. This sequence featured a young newlywed wife traveling with her husband while moving cross country, who did not know she was pregnant and went into labor.

My favorite was “The Secret Life of the Zoo” show, where they announced “animals at the zoo are eager to experience their first holiday season:” How do the animals know this? How do the zookeepers know this? Who writes these show descriptions?

By now I had completely forgotten about cleaning and sorting because one, I had the giggles, and two, I was hooked.

I scrolled on past all the shopping channels where one could purchase the latest fashions, jewelry, make-up and cleaning products, oxygen machines and collectable coins. I also whipped past the children’s programs. I am already pretty familiar with these, thanks to my great-grandchildren.

And, of course, I skipped all the news outlets. The sun was shining and I was not in the mood for doom and gloom.

So instead, I checked in on MTV2 which was currently showing “The Challenge: Honey, I’m Homeless”. This show description declared the following: “The competitors face off in an eating contest, but one team ultimately can’t stomach each other and begin in-fighting.”

By now I was laughing out loud.

I found I could have a “Better Life with Better Hearing: and “Reduce Swelling in my Legs” if I would just tune in. I could search for a better Medicare Plan and learn about Car Repair with Danica Patrick, all on the same channel.

It is endless. Now, this was in the daytime, so there was the usual selection of re-runs of shows from the 50’s onward, lots of sports channels which I bypassed, along with the various religious offerings.

There were many court and crime-related shows and a few movies. But by this time, I had decided it was time to get back to work. Off went the television and on came the music.

I know I am easily entertained. I spent about one-half hour scrolling through the television guide without watching anything except the descriptions of what was currently playing. It was fun, sort of educational, and relaxing.

Retirement is great.

Kathleen Anderson writes this column each week from her home in Olympia. Contact her at  kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comment below.