I was planning out the fall decorations for the house and looking at this decorating idea and this decorating idea and this fingers-crossed-if-I-can-recreate it project and somewhere around my 187,000 pin, I had a thought. Does anyone else remember life before you looked for fall decorating ideas on Pinterest?
Or Instagram?
Or Twitter?
Or Facebook?
Or you can remember a time when social and media would never even have been used in the same sentence?
It did exist.
That non-Facebook-non-Twitter-and-a-complete-and-utter-lack-of-Pinterest era.
People looked through magazines for their fall decorating ideas and went to potlucks and read books and wrote letters and baked pies for each other and met at the fence and had actual face-to-face conversations.
And all the televisions in America went off the air at 11:00 pm.
You know.
You’d be down in the family room after your mom told you to go to bed watching that super quality late-night programming.
It was always the dregs of the television schedule.
They’d play cartoons or re-runs of detective shows or old movies where people wore evening gowns and drank gin and tonics and smoked cigarettes from holders.
And then?
Right when the clock struck 11:00 an announcer would come on the air and say something like, “We have come to the end of our programming day” and a few other encouraging final phrases.
The Star Spangled Banner would start playing and there would be these beautiful pictures of the flag and the dawn’s early light and what the twilight last hailed.
A beautiful patriotic tribute before the television station signed off.
And for the rest of the night, if you turned from channel to channel there were brightly colored stripes and this super irritating buzz that made you want to cover your ears and look away.
It was amazing.
The television told you it was time to go to bed.
The television told you that you had enough screens.
“It’s 11:00” it would say.
It’s time to rest your weary eyes and stop for the day.
But somewhere along the way, the television decided it needed to stay up all night.
It started offering re-runs and news and specials and movies and binge-watching and 24-hour programming.
IT NEVER SHUTS OFF.
It never rests.
It never pushes pause.
It never really stops thinking and all that information swirls around and around and around without a stop.
Just. Like. Us.
I’m going old school today and pressing pause.
And I’m starting with putting down my phone and walking outside and taking a breath.
A wonderful, amazing, incredible breath of the promise of summer.
Today I’m turning off a television that won’t turn itself off.
Today I’m encouraging someone who needs encouraging.
Today I’m spending time with those four wonderful children of mine.
Today I’m taking my husband’s hand and going for a walk.
I don’t want to miss a minute of today.
Won’t you join me?
PS I may or may not sing the Star Spangled Banner at 11:00, too.
PPS I added a few fall decorating ideas on this post in case you were looking for fall inspiration, too.
Oh how many times I have thought how different our children's lives would be if we did not live in this 24 hour society we have become. Enjoy your family! You are such an AMAZING woman!
AMEN!!
I'm no where close to Fall thinking, but I am feeling you on the pressing pause thing! Before I started a blog I was not on social media AT ALL. I read magazines and I read blogs, that was it, I didn't even comment on blogs, I just consumed them! How rude. Anyway, my life changed after starting a blog, and I don't know for sure that all of it is healthy! I still limit my time and set boundaries, but some days I still feel a little over-done at the end of it. While it is nice for establishing a sense of community, I still walk away feeling like it's fake life vs. real life. I hope that doesn't sound harsh or ugly, but that is how it feels. Hows that for a long comment that probably shared too much? Have a great day enjoying your peeps!
You are so absolutely correct! Fake is a good word for how we live nowadays. People you never met in person declare their love for you (which in some cases can be believed) but it's mostly just words. I want to go back to fences over which neighbors greeted each other. I want to sit on my porch with a jug if iced tea and a plate of cookies for the family, friends or neighbors who might stop by. I want to hug real human beings, and, with a true heart, tell them I love them. Please tell me your blog name. I'd like to spend some time there.
So good KariAnne! We were just talking about this last night at our life group... how our kids hardly know what life is without electronics. It makes me sad, but also causes me to want to really work on creating that time for them- and for me:)
Have a wonderful day. I am going out in the yard and pick figs.
I do love your comments of today. I do wish more and more young people would feel the same way you do. My children are grown and my husband has gone to be with the Lord, but my husband and I did have family time with our children while they were home and now they are fathers they spend time with their daughters. My granddaughters tell me it is the best time of their day. Please keep encouraging young people to put down the phones and spend time with their children.
what a beautiful memory! I remember those nights. If I got to stay up long enough for the TV to go off, I thought I was grown. Those were the good old days!!
LOL-I remember TV being only on the weekends until 9 PM!! Only time I remember weekday TV was when President Kennedy was shot and they had a special broadcast. I grew up in a small town so it could have been our station. My husband, who grew up in large city, says he had TV until 11 PM like you did! I still have old school files of decorating ideas-divided into categories. I keep thinking I will have time to scan them-as I still like them!! Enjoy your walk with your husband-stay cool!!!
I loved this walk down memory lane - to somewhat simpler times. I guess every generation looks back to the "good old days", and now, I am THAT generation. Looking back wishing for simpler times, but thank you for remind us that we can still have those days - in the now. Today.
I've been tuning the outside world out more and more each day. A few hours for TV and Social Media a day is enough. The rest is time to enjoy the real world I live in.
Girl!!! You are TOO Funny!!! As I am a wee (🤔) bit older than you, yes I remember those days well!! And MISS them!! Enjoy your stroll with hubby... 😊🌞!! I'm READY for Fall decorating.. my favorite time of the year.. 🍁🍂!! Thanks for the early ideas!!!
One of the TV stations is going back to the Star Spangled Banner, sign off at night when they go "off air". It's here in the Northeast somewhere, a local station. I just read about it. I remember growing up when the TV station signed off and then signed on in the morning. The old TV set that my Mom took fingernail polish in "pink" and painted the number 6 so that I knew the channel for Captain Kangaroo. Those were the days before remote, before smart plugs. WE were the remote!
Love this post!! Sometimes I wish tv would still shut down at 11:00 PM, but, alas, the world is so different from what it used to be. Nope, I'm like you shutting down as much as I can to enjoy life again. Connect with people and spend time doing other things than looking at a tv or phone for entertainment. Life is good!!
My husband woke up one morning and basically touched on all your points in this blog. By lunchtime the family room Tv had been removed, the furniture rearranged to accommodate (wait for it) conversation. We have never looked back.
I did this yesterday, and it was glorious!! I am a communications degree holder, so I relish time spent with people face-to-face, and I love the bloggers and You Tubers follow (and do comment on those). I know it is odd, but I have no social media accounts by choice...no Snapchat, no Insta, no Facebook....nada. I am glad my husband and I made this choice together, and my daughter is 12 and has no phone (much to her displeasure). Yesterday, she and I took our dog on a long walk at the park and later shot some hoops at the community center (which is free to use..yay). I do find myself on my phone a ton, though, playing a cooking game I am addicted to!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I agree, though. Unplugging is good for all of us!!
I love your post and fall ideas. Alas, I need a tutorial of the bows with wheat please! Thank you.....
Oh how i wish they would come back, thank you, that was wonderful to read and remember.
Oh yes, I remember...and I'm making a conscious effort to bring more of that offline time back into my life! Lovely, peaceful post and photos, KarAnne!
Oh how I miss those good old days and how I wish it were still like that I’m in my early 50’s and I do not do social media... no account of any kind. No need for validation from strangers. My husband and I both are in agreement and love it We talk to each. We do things together. Our faces aren’t in a screen I miss those good old days
Our station also showed battleships along with the flag and Star Spangled Banner! And, NOOOOOO, not yet, fall!
Im not on social media and havent watched the news in 2 years. But I just had a nice time with friends over coffee and donuts! We usually meet once a week for breakfast. Omelets or pancakes and conversation! I have a full life and dont miss a thing!
Oh I do agree with the great need to have face to face time. I am wondering why oh why dear Karianne the need to bring up fall decorating today. I know you want us to plan our decorations but it isn't even 4th of July. Please let us savor summer. Let me know if I am off the mark here, I can handle it. Have a great day being with those you cherish.
Our tv stayed on until 12pm and then the Star Spangled Banner, and THEN, the tune, I think it was called "syncopated clock", then striped lines for a little bit and then black. The good old days. I stopped watching regular tv about 1 1/2 years ago. I still have fire tv, youtube, facebook, etc, but I can just stop it, do what I want to do and start it again when I want. I love being able to not be held hostage to a particular show, run like a madman during the commercials just to get back in time for the continuation of the show, etc. The advertising companies must just hate that we can fast forward or skip them entirely. I love it. AND I love my blogs. I have a few top favorites, YOU of course, Miss Mustard Seed, Cozy Little House, Designthusiasm, French Country Cottage, Shabby FuFu, Addicted 2 Decorating and Shabby Art Boutique. You guys are worth so much more than TV, Facebook and youtube combined!!!!!!!
What a wonderful post! I find myself craving quiet more and more. The world would certainly be a better place if we all had a little less screen time. :)
Yes, you are so right. As I am older too, I do remember a more pleasant time w/o all the constant electronics. And as you may know those devices are emitting unhealthy frequencies. (Studies are there) and also effecting sleep patterns in an unfriendly way. So...tell us about those cute little ivory trees in your entry photo...something that can be purchased? Love them.
Home Sweet Home!! Enjoy this day and all of those special, wonderful things!!! xoxo
I know that like magazines,bloggers need to be ahead of the calendar. So in June you are planning for October .It must be harder for you too. I write a gardening column for the next month and even that can be confusing. Love your thoughts on the simplicity of days gone by. I really would like to know the end game with all our technology. I would be lost without my phone and tablet but certainly got along without with no difficulty and it seems the pace was a little slower. We still have the power to shut it off and enjoy our families and friends without facebook, Think I will plan a drive in the country and a picnic with my husband of 50yrs for tomorrow.
Sweetie, I almost wanted to smack you when you mentioned FALL...OMG---my peonies are struggling to finish blooming and my garden is 2" high. I know there is a range of seasons in blogland and for some of you it is the middle of the summer---but we just finished Spring and today is our first air conditioning day in Chicagoland. PHEW--- But, you saved the day and went back to what it was like when....haha, and yes--enjoy today. I have huge files of magazine cutouts from about 30 years, I kept for business (pottery, floral design, and antiques) periodically I purge, but my tastes haven't changed and those ideas/photos tweaked today are totally useable. It's the Pinterest of old. I have given up magazine subscriptions, too. No reason to cutdown trees anymore, a GREEN thing to do on our fragile planet.
I remember watching a late movie with my sisters and it would end at midnight and the station would play the Start Spangled Banner with the flag flying in the background and then it would go fuzzy with that scratchy sound blaring🤣🤣 But when you mentioned fall 😱 I was in Hobby Lobby the other day and they had 3 aisles already stocked with fall items and the Christmas stock was in the back of the store on carts waiting to be put on shelves. We just got summer here in Chicagoland this week! I know your whole post was just that, the point is to be in the moment. I’m filling my summer bucket with stuff every day! Thank you for reminding folks to do just that💕
Sooo true!!! I am thankful that I raised my kids before all this technology. They played outside, rode bikes, climbed trees, played with the water hose, got dirty, played baseball with the neighborhood kids in the yard, and I could go on and on. Things used to be different. I miss a lot of stuff like that. I do still enjoy my paper magazines! We all need to get outside more, enjoy the world more, and enjoy each other face to face more. ♥️
Ah, yes. I think one of our television stations actually had an announcement at 10pm saying, "It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?" Our kids would think it creepy, but OUR parents patted themselves on the back and said, "Safely in bed!" LOL!
My experience was also 10:00 pm and always ended with “It’s Ten o’clock, Do you know where your kids are? We only had two tv stations and I didn’t know anyone else got to watch until 11:00 or 12:00. I am from a small town in Oklahoma. (Good memories!)
I am so with you. My granddaughter and I rarely watch tv together. We bake, we cook, we paint on canvas and we shop. She’s almost 11 and loves her phone and shows on her iPad, but when with me, they go away! I love it! And I still get and go through my magazines! Life as it should be. Of course I can’t live without your blog though and decorating skills. Don’t tell my granddaughter!
Fall magazines ... remember when you'd see the fresh crop of October issues at the grocery? And you couldnt wait until that evening or weekend when finally, you had the time to savor every page? As far as technology goes, I feel for our kids. When will it end?
The good ol’ days! So glad i grew up back when the television told you it was time for bed. Although, I remember the announcer at 11 or 12 saying, “It’s 11 pm/12 am. Do you know where your children are?” I also remember being able to call TI4-1212 for the time and WE6-1212 for the weather!!!
I grew up in the era of old school. Dinner between 5:30 and 6. Bed by 8. Limited TV watching, but a lot of using your creativity and imagination to play. Today I took my old Huffy bike out, cleaned it up and put air back on the tires to take a ride the old-fashioned way.Let's all make a commitment to spend more time outdoors with family and neighbors.
Wow, wouldn’t it be amazing if TV AND social media turned off at a certain time? What a wonderful post! Thank you for the memories and reminder! We have started taking our kids phones away each evening around 8 or 9, so there is a limit for them now!
LOVE this post! Wholesome, old fashioned and simply wonderful. We ALL need to go back to that more often. Hugs - have a great weekend - and thanks for the inspiration.;
KariAnne, I still have files of pictures of beautiful rooms pulled from magazines, a collection that I began when I was about ten years old. It seems I loved blue and white even then. We donated our television when we made our move to the farm and have never looked back. When I want to see something (for example, "Poldark"), I am able to watch on my computer. It was way too easy to let the television fill empty moments that are now used for reading, conversation, and projects. Have an amazing day!
Boy do I remember those days!! So different from today. And, cartoons were only on Saturdays from about six to noon or something like that, lol. We could all shut the tv off every once in a while. Have a great day!
One of the local stations where I am, back in the day, would announce.."It's 11 pm. Do you know where your children are?" I miss the days before technology took over. The hubs and I are packing up and heading for a state park, in the next state, to picnic and just hang out for the day.
Funny the timing of this post. Our local television station was talking about this and believe it or not is going back to it. The channel will go off air at midnight and show the flag and the song will be played. I think it’s an awesome thing, I think we need to slow down a bit.
TV off at eleven p.m. Cartoons only came on for viewing on Saturday mornings. Summer days were filled with Vacation Bible School (in a town of 1,000 people, we children made the VBS rounds to all the local churches), swimming at the City Pool, softball, and endless games outdoors with the neighborhood children. It was sublime! On another note, I love your wheat bundles. Do tell where or how you purchased or made them. They scream the beckoning if fall. You rock!
KariAnne, thank you for writing this blog. I was beginning to think I was the only one not impressed with "social" media. Facebook and Pinterest are vortexes that draw us in deeper and deeper and eat up precious hours of the day. My Larry went home to Jesus November 2015, so - no more walks while holding hands for me. Please, KariAnne and hubby, enjoy those precious moments you share. They will sustain you through difficult times. God is love, and He loves you.
What an awesome post! I have not had a tv for three years..by choice! Anything i NEED to know, can be found on my computer! I am old-school..lived those days fully as a child and later with my child! Blogged for 7 years until it became so competitive! (I still follow many of those early bloggers who paved the way!) Oh, by the way for the record,I have met many of my "on-line" friends in person.. they are just as delightful and real as they are on-line! we are fast friends to this day and frequently do meets and greets! Thanks again for an awesome post!
Yes, I had never really thought about it that way but thanks for bringing back the memories. Fall decorations- NO, NO NO go away. We are finally getting our first week of warm weather. Please, I beg you, don’t start posting about Fall. Autumn begins September 21,- more appropriate time to talk about fall decorations. Thank you for all that you do.
So true KariAnne...we really need to stop and smell the roses and spend time with families...because all too soon they have left the nest. Kari
KariAnne......it is so scary, sometimes I think that you and I are the same person! I just had this exact conversation with my daughter, minus the fall decorations because I'm not there yet. I loved the Star Spangled Banner, that always ended my day on the right note.
You have my heart on your mind, and I, yours.....thank you for that wonderful reminder, stated in such a wonderful way!
GREAT memories! we were SO fortunate as kids, instead of screens we played hop scotch and hoola hoop. When our grandchildren visit we swim in the pool, play Jacks, Pick up Sticks, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Old Maid, Chinese Checkers and Go Fish. We always have a puzzle going on the dining room table. We go to the beach, a boat ride or a walk downtown that ends with ice cream. We visit family in another town & walk the dog. We create costumes & then visit all the elderly neighbors to show off our costumes or make crafts or learn to apply mascara and french braid our hair. And then after dinner & perhaps a moonlit swim we all snuggle on the couches with the dog to watch a movie and eat popcorn together and stay up way too late. We do our best to keep these busy younger people engaged in non-screen activities, that's our gift to them.
Amen and AMEN! And we can have this again in our lives if we live intentionally! It is a delicate balance and we need not to get sucked into "society's norm." Less screen time encourages more contented, peaceful living, in my little opinion. Enjoy those special people right in front of you, friend!
Such a beautiful reminder. Life is too short to live it thru a continual screen. Enjoy your precious family.