We moved house in a remote area almost 2 months ago and had to give up the dubious pleasures of Sky et al.
Our peaceful little haven was just missing one thing…no television sockets, aerials or satellite dishes. During the honeymoon period, we were just too damn busy to care and after all, we still had a lorry load of DVD’s, half of which we had forgotten about anyway. Kids are another story but we quickly noticed that instead of the box being switched on as the default relaxation mode, books were being picked up instead.
As an aspiring writer, I have been amazed at just how much more reading we have all done as a family and my writing output has been great! The house emanates calm vibes, communication channels are far more open between us all and, get this, even the weather seems to be better!
The dilemma facing us now is that the required technology to reawaken our affair with the television has finally arrived. At the moment we have it hidden up in the attic like some embarrasingly tasteless old furniture, a digital relic of our idle past.
What to do!
Our instinct tells us to carry on regardless and see how long we can chart this perilous course. But I can feel myself weakening. As a fanatical cyclist, I have survived missing the Giro d’Italia cycle race only by administering nightly potions via my laptop and I just can’t see me enduring the 3 week festival of cycling that is the glorious Tour de France without a television.
Maybe I follow my son’s example. He has cultivated local friendships with those who have the best TV’s and if I promise not to grass him up to Mum, maybe he wouldn’t mention it when I return from my gruelling 100 mile bike rides less weary than normal?
What would you do…?