15. Comfort Television

15. Comfort Television

In times of deep dark depression, especially in the cold of winter, I realized I was finding emotional comfort in certain of my chosen television reruns. I was an only child, and spent most of my evenings on the floor in front of the television, with my father watching from his chair, occasionally lighting a Salem cigarette.

I remember being small enough to run and hide behind the furniture when the intro music to "Gunsmoke" began. I was always hidden when Marshall Dillan fired those first two shots. I remember the TV close-up of Palladin's "Have Gun Will Travel" business card. Watching reruns now, I realize I never caught the story plot. But that wasn't the point then. A few years later, I fell madly in love with Little Joe Cartwright on "Bonanza," but I don't remember letting on to Daddy. I was Daddy's little girl, and we spent time watching television until my bedtime, almost every night of my youth.




Break

Edit note--combine ideas with other essay--

15.5. Medium TV, Medium Life  (E) In the "medium" of television . . . #527451 by a Sunflower in Texas

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