Imagine minus fifty degrees, whipping wind, and pitch dark at 2:30 p.m. when the school buses rumbled down our gravel road plinking loose gravel at the sides of our faded green, old trailer on School Road. The stars looked so bright and close you could almost reach up and pluck one. But going outdoors caused breath clouds that froze in midair.
Entertainment was limited to personal interaction with other army wives who played Yahtzee, or watching the only television show, Military History Channel on T.V. Boring!
In the evening, the six o'clock news was aired live from Fairnbanks, 100 miles away. When the male newscaster came on live, he was often caught licking his palm and slicking his hair down. After local news, Walter Cronkite broadcasted DAY OLD world news. The news reels had to be flown from Seattle to Alaska EACH DAY after the late news in the lower forty-eight.
You could say we were a day late and a dollar short. We seldom had six cents left over at the end of the month for a postage stamp to write home about our daily lives in Delta Junction, Alaska, a small frontier town at the end of the Alcan Highway.
I discovered two major things in November 1969. I was expecting a baby. YAY! A new television show made its debut. In the first episode, Gordon took a little girl, Sally, on tour of the set to meet Gordon, Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper. Names not familiar? How about Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch?
Suddenly my TV viewing options improved. I snuggled in long johns, pajamas, socks, wrapped myself in an olive drab, woolen army blanket, and sat on our couch (a discarded school bus seat with a spring popping up) for most of winter that year. Sesame Street saved my sanity when everyone was going stir crazy from the deep freeze and dark days and nights.
Happy fifty-third bithday, Sesame Street!
5 comments:
I still remember the lyrics to most of the songs on Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. More entertaining than soap operas, for sure.
I bet even remote spots in Alaska now have access to satellite internet so they can rot their brains during the long, COLD winter on more shows than PBS Kids.
Sesame Street was often my only contact with the outside world in the winters during the late 1980s. At night with Hubby, I went on and on about cultural references and famous people who had been on the show.
It seems life in a cold, boring Alaskan little town was practically saved by 'Sesame Street', the american children's TV series.
Sesame Street is iconic. I think (and hope) they'll go on forever!
Big Bird to the rescue! A fine feathered friend to keep you company as you sat rolled up like a burrito on your bus-seat couch.
Reminds me of my second year of teaching, when I rented an apartment in an old railroad hotel, eating macaroni-and-cheese-crust pizza (topped only with tomato sauce), looking forward to Monday night and watching Cagney & Lacey on my 12-inch TV, from my fold-out couch bed with the spring poking my back. Somehow, that's a fond memory...
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