Life Without My Newspaper?

Maybe I need to give you our routine each morning so you understand just how much a part of our day our newspaper is!

The alarm goes off - most mornings - and Keith quickly dresses. Ever notice how quickly men dress? Annoying, isn't it? But it is handy!

He opens the master bedroom door and says good morning to Buddy (our Lhasa Apso who sleeps outside our door). Keith now turns off the alarm at the wall there and he and Buddy walk together to the patio door so Buddy can go outside and check out the squirrels and birds in the yard.

Now, I can hear the garage door opening. Keith walks out that way, down the driveway, says "Hello" to any neighborhood walkers and picks up the Lufkin Daily News at the bottom of the driveway. On rainy days he unwraps the paper and puts the wrapper in the blue recycle bin.

Now, he heads back in and sets the paper down while he pours my coffee into my striped mug and brings me the paper and coffee.

Keith exits the bedroom and goes to turn on our computers and check a couple of things.

Now, it is my time to read the paper and sip my coffee. It takes me just about 25 minutes to scan everything.

I glance at the cover stories and check the names of the unfortunate folks who had a mishap over the past 24 hours. (Sometimes you hear about a wreck, but now you have the name.)

I turn the page and - yeah, yeah, because I'm a senior, I guess - I check the obituaries. More than the deceased's name, I check the paragraph of survivors. Keith and I try to honor those who have lost loved ones and generally we show up at the visitation if you lost your brother-in-law or your father. (I don't know everyone's name as well as some do: remember I've only been here twelve years.) We pride ourselves on being people who "always show up".

I glance at the Police Report in the upper right, to see how well our neighborhood is doing. Hmm. Shot out a back window of a SUV six blocks from our house yesterday? Glad we are down to one vehicle always parked inside the garage. On the opposite page is a coupon for Belk Department Store or maybe it's Senior Day!

Now, I realize I have about 13 minutes left till Keith expects me for our apple and cheese which starts our day.

I glance at the AP stories that I may have seen on KTRE or online in case I missed one. I always check the People column, especially the birthdays of famous people at the end. Sometimes I get an idea for my blog that day.

Always glance at Sagittarius (Keith's) and Taurus (my horoscope) and check if Dr. Gott has an idea for anything that is bothering one of us.

Glance at my watch - not that either of us is obsessive-compulsive but the day is short, yup, shorter than it seemed when we were younger.

On Friday, I scan the entire Entertainment. Are the Hipshakers playing somewhere this week? (Jeff, their keyboardist is our church music director) and is Larry Greer at Fredonia twice this week? Is there a concert at Angelina College this weekend? I do quickly check the movies that start today.

Glancing at my watch, I speed through the TV page and you know sometimes I have told you what classic movie is playing in case you've had enough of the news.

Sometimes I check the Pet/Dog column, just in case somebody is looking for a dog, like the time I found Kathleen's Scottie! Oh, what a day that was - just about two (or maybe three) years ago this week. I called the number. The lady was pregnant and needing to find a home for "Samantha". I got all the details; Kathleen went at lunch break; Southwood checked out "Sam" out in the afternoon and well, Kathleen brought "Sam" to church that night to thank me for finding her. The best part of that story is that Keith thought I might have been interfering!

Classified stories don't get much better than that. Well, they sort of do . . . like the time we found Buddy the Lhasa about five years ago.

I glance at my watch again and - oh, man - if I hurry I can catch the comics and I'll leave the flyers till later, I guess.

The comics are generally on the back of the last section and I start at the middle crease on the left column which is Dagwood Bumstead and scan up to Arlo and Janice. I move across to Family Circus and catch three more, skip three and pick up at Zits down to Sally Forth.

I fold the paper really neatly - that's a courtesy to hand the paper to Keith as though it hasn't been yet read.

In comes Keith and we sit on the side of the bed, eating our apple and cheese. We say our morning prayers and begin our day.

I feel I must tell you that Saturday I do read the Religion page thoroughly but I hear you asking, "What about Sunday"?

Yes, Sunday is church day and there is definitely less time and more paper. Well, I do not touch the Sports section and I save the Business, Charm/Lifestyle and East Texas to read after apple and cheese. I go out to the sofa and Buddy and I check the flyers quickly before I go back to put on make-up and earrings. Last Sunday, we used an El Chico coupon for lunch after church.

So, why - if we can fit reading the paper into our daily routine - why are newspapers closing down? This is one of the last leisurely pleasures in life! Heck, Dagwood Bumstead was on those comic pages when I was a kid! Why wouldn't I still read him now?

I like to keep up with what's going on - right here in my town - not somewhere else! First thing in the morning, with that beautiful cup of coffee, I want to be updated right then at the beginning of the day!

Isn't it time more people subscribed to have the newspaper in their driveway first thing? I hope so, because that's my ritual and I don't want to give it up!