So, Murray the Dog is 15 years old. He really can’t hear any more and he occasionally runs into things, probably because he can’t see so well, either. The little West Highland Terrier is the love of our lives. It’s amazing how he can still jump on the couch and sleep cuddled next to his mother every night. My back is so bad that I have to sleep on a particular couch next door. Murray refuses to let me get close to his mother. When I sleep next to Roselle and he thinks I am getting too close, he takes all four legs and pushes against me as hard as he can. Since we love Murray so much and he is used to having his way, that’s been the way it goes.
As for me, I move from bed to bed, sleeping in fits. I hit the hay around 6 or 6:30 p.m., sleep a couple of hours and then do what we are all told not to do. I check my mail, turn over on my bad back, think about things, and then gradually fall back asleep. Usually my eyes open around 1 a.m. and I try to sleep a bit more, but by 3 a.m. I am up and doing all those things I have to do. I brush my teeth, I gargle, I take some daily meds and then I get on the phone with WAMC’s magnificent morning guy, David Guistina, and we record what I will be saying around 7:40 a.m.
Around 4:15 a.m., I often go for a walk in the dark with a headlamp on. Now that the awful winter seems to be on its way out, I will walk on the road more and eschew the gym workout I use at the walking track at Simon’s Rock College. I have to say that the people at the Simon’s Rock Gym are among the nicest folks I have ever encountered. It may only be a few words shared, but I always feel better after talking to them. It’s funny how a brief few words can make you feel better about the world.
Going around that walking track is an amazing psychological phenomenon. My hearing aids link directly to my phone, so I can listen to various radio programs that were recorded many years ago. I may not know much about what is being offered on media today, but I can tell you that listening to William Conrad in the original “Gunsmoke,” where he plays U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, allows you to compare his acting to that of James Arness in later years. Arness is gone now, but it is amazing how this stuff holds together.
Many of these serials were sponsored by tobacco companies and it is not hard to see how advertising in the ’40s and ’50s advanced human cancers, as we were assured how “mild” all those cigarettes were. One can only wonder how many of those advertising geniuses lived to see all the sickness and death to which they contributed.
Some of the old programs, like “The Lone Ranger,” are quite good. The ending of “The Lone Ranger” is something worth waiting for, as in “I really wish I had asked him his name — I would have liked to thank him and his Indian companion.”
“I can tell you that: he’s The Lone Ranger.”
So that’s just part of how I spend my day, every day. I bring my past with me. For those who are younger than I am, I feel kind for sorry for you. You don’t have The Lone Ranger to inspire you.
