The Writer's Pen

Listening to the radio

 

June 17, 2021



My kids and grandkids, and even my wife, shake their heads at my choice of electronic entertainment. I have a Zenith radio that I got in 1967 as a graduation gift and it is perfectly usable. I’ll have to admit that it doesn’t fit with the décor inside our house, but a few pieces of duct tape and splotches of paint don’t bother anything in the garage. It was a good unit in the day of mostly AM radios, and through a little TLC and coaxing, it’s still a good unit. Besides, if it dies tomorrow, it will have survived a lot longer than anything built today.

Though it isn’t new either, we have a nice Bose radio in our bedroom. Years ago my wife, Rita, and I decided against having a TV in our bedroom. We don’t really listen to the radio in there either, but I do like to listen to the early morning news while lying in bed. If Rita is still asleep, I go to the bathroom in our basement where there is a clock radio. I am able to listen to the news while otherwise preparing myself to meet the day.


I like to listen to ballgames (of most any sport) while I’m working or driving. I used to drive a lot more in my working days and often had a game on the radio. I had radio stations set where I knew I could pick up local, college and professional teams that I followed. People tell me that I can’t get the full effect of what’s happening in a game by listening to the radio, but I’m fine with that. I think there’s too much drama and hype in sports anyway, and I just want to know the score and a few stats. Since I’ve retired, I have more time to watch games in person and on TV, but I still listen to a lot of games on the radio.


I don’t have ear buds to use when I spend time outdoors. I really don’t know how to use them anyway. Fortunately, I prefer nature’s sounds to music, sports or news. While hunting or fishing, it is necessary to be quiet so you can hear movement around you. I’m a little hard of hearing anyway, so I recently got battery-operated ear-protectors that allow me to hear normal sounds, but deaden loud noises from shotguns. They work great, but I have to sing or hum to myself to hear any music.

When my brother, Glen, and I were old enough, we took over some of the milking chores on our farm. We knew our mother wanted to replace the kitchen radio, so we asked if we could put the old radio in the barn. Our dad was against it, claiming it would make the cows nervous. It turned out that Dad listened to the radio in the barn as much as we did. But while we listened to Ricky Nelson and Elvis Pressley, he listened to baseball games and hog prices. I don’t think the milk production changed significantly by what was playing on the radio – the cows must have liked the variety.

Rita and I have taken numerous road trips in our married life and usually have the radio on. Not only is it hard to find a station we both like, but Rita doesn’t like to listen to ballgames. We experimented with Sirius Radio, but didn’t think it was worth the money. We tried CD books on tape that would last anywhere from four to 12 hours, but couldn’t find enough of them we both liked. The latest thing for us has been podcasts. Don’t ask me to explain them, because all I know is that Rita downloads stories on her phone and we hear them on our car radio. The stories are a lot shorter, and if we don’t like them, we go to another story. How cool is that?

For some reason, those books on tape and podcasts put me in mind of the old radio that used to sit in my grandparent’s dining room. It was a Philco floor-model with a potted fern on top of it, and it now sits in our family room (minus the fern). My grandparents sat by the radio and listened to things like FDR’s fireside chats, as well as radio shows starring Amos and Andy and Ma and Pa Kettle. We sit by the radio that no longer works, and watch the evening news and shows on numerous channels on the TV that sits beside it.

Besides the radio, I enjoy reading actual newspapers and hardcover books. I must be getting old, because all of those things are becoming nearly obsolete. I wonder how our ancestors survived without these things we take for granted today. Even my limited electronic entertainment is a lot more than anyone had a century ago. I feel that listening to the radio is still the most efficient and enjoyable use of my time, regardless of what my family thinks.

Roger Brockshus and his wife, Rita, live in Spirit Lake. Besides writing, he operates a part-time lawn service and also volunteers in his church and community. He and Rita enjoy spending a little more time with their kids and grandkids since some of the COVID-19 rules have been relaxed.

 
 

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