Old

I saw on the news that Fred Rogers died last week, and it's amazing how many people have written about him. He certainly must have made a huge impact on a lot of people. He was after my time--I looked at the Yahoo story and it says that he started the show in 1966, so that makes sense--I would have been 13 then, and WAY too old for the show. But I was aware of him, certainly.

Friday night I wasn't feeling well, and went to bed early, but couldn't sleep. I was lying there in bed trying to remember all of the old television shows we used to watch. Bob came in, and we started naming them all, and talking about them.

As far as the first shows I watched when I was a child, I guess the Mr. Rogers equivalent would have been Romper Room. Miss Nancy and the Magic Mirror and the "Do Bee." There were others, too--Whizzo (which I believe was local), Captain Kangaroo (and my favorite, Mr. Green Jeans), Howdy Doody.

We named off all the series' we watched: The Adventures of Superman, Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin, Roy Rogers, Gunsmoke. Perry Mason and Bonanza and Dennis the Menace. I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, Leave it to Beaver. My father liked the westerns, especially Gunsmoke, and the Andy Griffith Show. I liked Lassie, although when things got tense, I would run into the kitchen and crouch down beside the refrigerator with my hands over my ears so I wouldn't hear if anything bad happened. I guess I hadn't yet figured out that they weren't going to kill the superstar.

One of my favorites, later, was The Danny Thomas show, originally called Make Room for Daddy. I'm not sure why I liked it so much, although I think it had something to do with the set, which as I remember it must have been meant to be a New York (or maybe Los Angeles?) apartment. Of course, I didn't know anyone who lived in an apartment, so it seemed exotic. Oh, and of course the Dick Van Dyke Show.

The cartoons were wonderful, too: Rocky and Bullwinkle, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Mighty Mouse. Oh, and Popeye! Which I liked for some reason, especially the weird Jeeps. And the movies: Tarzan movies on Saturday mornings, The Little Rascals, The Three Stooges.

Reminiscing about black and white television shows. I guess this means I'm officially old.

I've become really fond of hummus. I like it on French or sourdough bread better than I like it on pita, although if I could get the soft pita that the Mediterranean restaurants have, that would probably be ideal. I can't, though, all I've ever found is the hard grocery store kind, so I compromise. I buy Athenos brand; I've tried other kinds, and I like it the best (except, of course, for the real thing at a restaurant!).

My favorite flavors are black olive and roasted red pepper. Recently, when I bought it at the grocery store, I got a coupon printed out on my receipt for a dollar off on two new flavors--Greek Style and Artichoke. The Greek isn't bad--pretty lemony, and a little too garlicky (not that I don't like garlic, but I try not to eat it for breath reasons), but I don't like the artichoke at all. I had a little on bread last night with my dinner (French onion soup--a very eclectic meal!), and it was kind of gross. It didn't really taste like artichokes to me, but more like asparagus.

I almost threw it out, but then thought, well, I do have a cold, maybe it's just because I'm not tasting things right. So I guess I'll try it again. But anyway, it certainly didn't grab me enough to buy it again, and I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it.