Yesterday was my first attempt to minimize my intellectual and emotional pollution by avoiding television news for one day each week, normally Saturdays.  The day got off to a bad start.  When I turned on the TV, a news channel popped up. Not to be a purist, I learned that I need to change channels before I go to bed at night, so a news channel doesn’t pop up again.  Getting past that hiccup, I trolled other channels.  Did you know that The Golf Channel has a delightful live show called Morning Drive?  It was great!

That afternoon, we drove six-hours to check on my 93-year-old father.  Long drives are much easier with satellite radio, like Sirius.  Normally, I would be listening to CNBC or Bloomberg, with interludes on FNC, MSNBC, CNN, and especially CNN International.  Yesterday, we trolled the world of music, instead of news.  Did you know that both Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Buffet have their own dedicated music channels playing their songs 24/7?  It was great!

Arriving at my father’s house, I had forgotten his addiction to Fox News.  I asked for the remote and turned the volume down to zero and turned my back to the television.  Nonetheless, it was still hard to miss the breathlessness of their political coverage.  It wasn’t much pollution, and I think I minimized as best as I could.  Still, it wasn’t great!

The take-away from this first attempt is that it is more important, if not more difficult, than I expected.  Part of learning is exploration, and I had more time for exploration yesterday.  I’m already looking forward to next Saturday!  In fact, I’m even going to make Saturdays great again . . .