Why it’s important for winter to continue

Star Beacon

March 13, 2008 06:27 pm

— After the big ice storm followed by the huge blizzard, everybody seems anxious for spring.
Except for me. As I get older, I hope winter lasts a little longer.
That’s because I have so many indoor responsibilities.
No, I’m not talking about painting the hallways in my house or putting in new drywall in the family room.
Dream on.
My problem is I have a couple of year’s worth of “Consumer Reports” magazines to read and they keep piling up. I just saw one that says you can now do texting on cellphones. Who would have thought?
I got into this kick of reading Perry Mason mystery novels. I was happy when daughter Megan bought me a bunch for my birthday. But now I have to read them all.
I got the most reading accomplished while waiting at the car dealership for a bunch of work to be completed on my car. That’s nice, but I can’t wait to finish the novel when my car hits its next 90,000 miles.
I have all 10 available seasons of “The Simpsons” on DVD, but have only watched through Season 4. That doesn’t include all of the audio commentaries. I may not live to hear the audio commentaries. Maybe somebody can play them at my funeral. I won’t have much to do that day.
Oh, if it were only “The Simpsons.” I also am behind in my seasons of “King of the Hill” and “Family Guy.”
I had to run out and buy “The Beverly Hillbillies” first season when it came out. Those first two seasons in black and white were just hilarious. Critics hated the show at the time. Now it is a classic. Even as funny as those episodes are, I still haven’t watched them all.
I have a couple sets of “The Honeymooners” to watch, not to mention three seasons of “Green Acres.” Remember when stuff on CBS was actually funny?
I’ve gotten through season one of “Superman” and “Perry Mason” but have more seasons to go on both of them. Who knows when I will get a chance to watch the “Perry Mason” 50th anniversary commemorative set when it comes out in April, but I’ll buy it.
“The Untouchables” was a cool show that doesn’t get much syndication. One day I did a search to see if it would ever come out on DVD and was thrilled to find it would be! I went out and bought it first thing and subsequently got the second set.
Unfortunately, I’m still halfway through the first set of shows.
I’ve got several movies on DVD that have been rereleased in new, fancier form. I still haven’t watched my old, cruddy editions.
Then there’s my DVR harddrive with a bunch of movies on it. It’s important to watch films to get them off so there’s room for the next set.
I still have to watch the conclusion of “The Wire” too.
Did I mention my Netflix subscription?
Then there’s my music collection. I’ve been trading Rolling Stones concerts for a few years and sometimes get 18 or 20 CDs at a time. I need to listen to them all and get them put away in alphabetical order.
In the meantime, I have piles of discs sitting here and there.
There’s also a few dozen Web sites I need to look at. Some let you watch movies for free. That would be nice.
I also need to update the Lebzelter family Web site. It has my daughter as a band member at Conneaut High School and my son as a student at Case Western.
Actually, daughter is about to graduate from Ashland University (we are already getting mailings offering to sell us diploma frames for $300) and son works for General Motors in Rochester, N.Y., getting us off our dependence on foreign oil.
On warm spring and summer days, I feel guilty if I’m not out mowing or trimming. You can’t be cooped up on summery days watching “The Untouchables,” right? Although maybe I can plead that I am conserving $4 a gallon gasoline while watching Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitty.
On the day of the big blizzard last weekend, people didn’t want you out and about. If I went out and got stuck, the tow truck driver would probably be thinking, “What is he doing out? Why isn’t he home watching ‘The Simpsons’ on DVD?”
I haven’t made much of dent in my projects and soon the sun will come out and the grass will turn green and my time will be taken up getting rid of the gravel that accumulates on the lawn, along with Casey the dog’s poop.
Yes, those precious days of winter are starting to dwindle. We must savor those that are remaining.
Because we all know, at some point, they will come out with season two of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
Lebzelter is special sections editor. E-mail him at bobleb@starbeacon.com. Take his poll under “opinion” at www.starbeacon.com.

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