Livin' On A Dirt Road

Although we live just four miles from an interstate highway, somedays it feels like we are living at the end of the earth in a deep valley far from civilization, literally.

We have learned to live without cell phone service ~ inside because the walls are made of concrete and outside because we live in a valley too low to pick up the signal from the cell phone tower just three miles away.

We have learned to live with DSL instead of cable because the cable provider refuses to pull cable a little over a mile further down the dirt road to reach our house.

What is becoming more and more difficult to live with is the lack of television reception. And I know this shows me up to be the shallow person I am...but I miss being able to see The Daily Show, HGTV, TBS, TNT, Red Sox games, and the myriad of shows available to most of the civilized world. We get five stations by way of a television antenna that Ken bought, on clearance because they were going out of stock, and mounted on a corner of the deck. Sometimes the channels even come in pretty clear, especially PBS. However, there have been nights lately when the grainy quality of the NBA Finals has been enough to make even an I-only-watch-the-final-round-of-any-playoff-series amateur like me pine for the days of clear reception.

And if I'm feeling this way, I know it is way worse for Ken and my youngest son, who have both been wonderful about the situation and not complained once during the last week as we've watched the Celtics in all their multi-pixeled glory.

What about satellite you ask, as does anyone who hears about our existence on this dirt road in the valley? Well, you see, we moved to the "woods" and woods have trees, which is why we moved here in the first place, and these trees are tall and block the view toward the satellite signal in the sky. And then there are the concrete walls of the house...which would have to be drilled through because the house was wired for cable, which we can't get, and the wiring for cable completely negates the ability to get a satellite signal through the handy dandy wiring that the builder installed without first seeking the advice of anyone who knew anything about the technical ramifications of building a house with concrete walls on a dirt road in a valley....

You get the picture, so to speak.... So if you hear loud whirring, followed by a loud rumble, followed by a lot of whooping and hollering, you will know that Ken has been busy with a chain saw making way for sunlight. And me? I'm busy drilling holes in the foot-thick concrete wall downstairs....