Beech Tree News Network

I will never forget my family’s first color TV.  It was far from the monstrosity that sits in my living room today, but it was a modern marvel for our little group on Ashes Creek.
    The whole color TV experience will forever be sealed in my memory because of the incident with our antennae.  We lived down under a hill, which meant our reception was very limited.  Dad decided the new color TV warranted drastic measures, so he decided we would put the antennae at the top of the hill behind our house.  I’m not sure how much antennae wire it took to run from that hill to our living room window, but somehow, Dad came up with enough. 
    At the top of the hill was a pond surrounded by a board fence.  Dad positioned the antennae on the outside of the fence and secured the antennae pole to a post.  He then positioned himself next to the post.  One of my sisters stood half-way down the hill, another one stood in the yard outside the living room window, and I stood inside in front of the TV.
    As Dad turned the pole and repositioned the antennae, I would yell “better” or “worse” to my sister outside the window, who would relay “better” or “worse” to my sister on the hill, who would relay “better” or “worse” to Dad.
    As point man, I knew I had better make sure the picture, that first appeared as static and colored lines, was crystal clear before I okayed Dad to come down the hill.  He was sure to fuss if he had to hike back up there.  If Dad moved the antennae too far one way or the other, I would yell, “The other way!”  My words would get lost in translation as they traveled up the hill, and Dad would yell, “Make up your mind!”  I could imagine his face getting progressively redder as my sister at the window relayed the message back to me.
    I don’t know what direction or combination of directions Dad finally used, but I remember when that picture came through on the screen.  It was a wondrous sight!  The TV show was “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” a 1960’s sitcom, based on a movie by the same name.  I yelled out the window, “Stop right there!” and listened as my words echoed up the hill through my sisters’ voices.  “I’m coming down,” Dad yelled—I heard that myself, all the way from my position in the living room.  Dad was excited.
    My stepmom had been in the kitchen all that time cooking hamburgers for supper.  That night, we all ate in front of the TV.  We were never allowed to do that before, but it became a Saturday night tradition after that.  Mom would let us choose between hamburgers, pizza or chili, and we would all eat in front of “Laugh-In” or the “Andy Williams Show” or one of the sitcoms on at that time.  It was my favorite time of the week.
    When our own kids were little, we carried on the tradition on Friday nights.  This was the pre-cable, pre-internet, pre-satellite era.  We would gather with our hamburgers, pizza or chili in front of “Family Matters,” “Perfect Strangers,” and “Full House.”
    With the introduction of multiple TVs and multiple channels in our household, we don’t do that much anymore.  We each have our favorite shows we watch or record and watch later.  Recently, though, they’ve put a line-up on FOX on Friday nights that Garey, Natalie and I watch together.  “Bones,” “Enlisted,” and “Raising Hope” have pulled us together once more.  The only decision left to make is hamburgers, pizza or chili.