For reasons that are apparent to anyone who has even an inkling of my political leanings, I turned off my tv last fall. I turned off the news on my radio. I stopped listening to Colbert or the Daily Show. I stopped looking at Facebook and any other online site where I might accidentally see the news.
Maybe if I was younger, this would be wrong. But I’m not. I’m old. Very, very old. And I simply no longer have the energy or enthusiasm for the outside world. My world has shrunk to my home, my dogs, my birds, my books and – thank you iPad – word games that keep me amused for hours on end.
Turns out that if you can no longer drive in Anchorage due to eyes slowly going dim to dark, you can’t get around very easily. I’m lucky. I have a wonderful, if slightly insane, group of friends who think I’m pretty ok. This might be because they are bird lovers and I have birds in my house. Or it might be because they are dog lovers and I have dogs in my house. Who knows? Who cares? What matters is that I can always count on them. Always. Plus – and I can’t emphasize this enough – I also thoroughly enjoy being in my house with my critters and, in the summer, with my flower garden. Life doesn’t get much better.
But what really makes it perfect is the quiet that has arrived in my home with all the outside noise turned off. Given that I don’t have many years left and I have no children or grandchildren to worry about, the future no longer concerns me. There’s simply not enough of it anymore to make me care.
Again, I know this sounds bad. It’s almost as bad as when I spend a week in my house without going out or seeing more that one or two people and I love it. LOVE IT. I have a routine that keeps boredom at bay. I have a way to exercise in my home without worrying about the weather, getting to a gym, or needing to go to a park. Yes, our surroundings are beautiful. I’ve been lucky enough to spend over 50 years enjoying them. I’ve walked, hiked, kayaked and (an abortive attempt at best that ended with me in the water) trying to cross a stream on a log while wearing snowshoes. Bad idea. Very, very bad idea.
I guess I’ve done it all and now that my eyesight is failing, I’m glad I did it while I could.
Now I am just as happy to sit by my window and watch the snow – you know, on those winters where we have some – and the leaves changing colors and the moose who wander gracefully around my yard pooping while my dogs get hysterical. Life can be good without the outside world intruding.
I had banned politics from my Friday ladies’ group after the last election. I was so tired of it all. I’ve lifted the ban because it needed to be lifted. But honestly, when the talk turns to politics, my brain turns to bird sounds and all I hear is chirping and singing, the sounds of birds bringing me peace.
We are destroying the world rather rapidly, even before current circumstances made the destruction speed up by removing most environmental protections. The world will still exist for me. So will most birds. But trust me, we will eventually destroy it. The only question in my mind is if it will have enough clean spaces left for pockets of animals and birds to survive while people choke to death on the pollution that was once our world.
So, if you want any happiness in this life, and you are older and don’t have many years left, turn off the news, turn off the outside world. Go somewhere where you can hear the sounds of nature minus people and can see the beauty of this earth before it’s all gone.
Hurry. Glaciers and ice caps are melting and there is no snow left on Mount Kilimanjaro.