What entertains you?

By Rennie Phillips

Everyone down through the years will find something that entertains him or her. For many, it's a TV, while for others, it's video games. For some, it's their phone and chatting with friends. But what entertains us has really changed down through the years.

Way back when I was little, my brother's and my No. 1 entertainment was our horses. We spent hours and hours riding our horses -- riding through the hills or navigating the cow trails up the sand hills. We'd look for coyote dens up in the hills or arrowheads in the blowouts and such. We found a few coyote dens and would usually go back later with Mom and Dad. Dad would take some barbed wire and drag the pups out of the den. Every time we rode through a blowout we'd watch for arrowheads. We found a few, or at least enough to keep us looking.

We'd look around some of the old homesteads for things left by the first pioneers to that area of Nebraska. Most of the houses were sod houses, so not much was left when the homestead was sold or abandoned, but there would at times be old equipment or small knickknacks. It was fun just looking and wondering how they made it where they lived.

Most of our entertainment was outdoors. In the winter we went sledding or helped Dad feed. It wasn't entertaining, but we had to milk the cows morning and night. We always squirted some milk into the cats' mouths. Boy, they could really lap that milk down. They usually got the milk all over their faces, so after getting squirted they'd have to clean up.

Indoors we'd watch a little TV, but not much. The one channel didn't come in real clear, so it wasn't real entertaining. So we'd play pitch or pinochle or rummy or such. Later on when the grandkids started coming to visit, they would play Uno or something like that. Dad was good at checkers, so we played checkers. I don't think I ever beat him. Mom wouldn't play checkers. It seems like she hated to lose. Once in a while Dad would get his guitar or fiddle out and play a jingle. Not very often, though.

Every now and then we'd go to the drive-in movie. We'd usually go on Thursday night because that was "Buck Night." Everyone that could get into a car was let in for $1. So we'd go eat at one of the burger joints in Ogallala and then go on to the drive-in.

Our boys grew up watching TV. There were all kinds of comics and such, with the big one back then being He-Man. The boys had all kinds of He-Man characters. The good and the bad were in their collection. The story "The A-Team" was on TV, so we always watched It. Most of the time we'd drive down to a friends' house, Mike and Diane Hodge, and watch with them. We'd make popcorn and have a pop. We had two boys and they had three girls. At the time I was spending most of my time studying or working, so those years kind of flew by. Marge was kind of like me. Either she was working or taking care of the boys. There wasn't a whole lot of free time.

About the time our boys graduated from high school (1994) was when computers and phones and such really took off. Computers came on the scene, with the first ones being big and bulky. It didn't take long before they got smaller and smaller and smaller.

Phones went from dial-type landlines to remote phones to bulky bag phones to small wireless phones. Phones got smaller and smaller until they were almost too small. Now it seems like they are getting bigger and bigger. It's odd how things work.

Entertainment today seems to go in all directions. Some still go to the theater and watch a movie. Some go out on the town for a meal and maybe a glass of wine or a beer. More and more are going to wineries as a form of entertainment. Maybe go from winery to winery and spend the day checking them out, kind of like a wine trail.

It seems like where we live more and more, people are heading south to the beach. Some head into Texas while others head to Florida or somewhere in between. After spending a few days relaxing on the beach and soaking up some rays from the sun, they seem rejuvenated and ready to take on the world again.

Marge and I like to go out for a quiet meal now and then. We aren't real picky about where or the type of food. We also like to do a little garage saling. We walked through the downtown market up in Cape the other day. We also like to go visit the area wineries. When we travel, we check out where the wineries are and sample the local wines.

In the fall and winter, we'll build a fire out under the stars and enjoy the heat on our front sides and the cool air on our backsides. Our pets usually have to sit around the fire as well. They enjoy the warmth from the fire, but they also enjoy our company.

Most today are on their cellphones almost 24/7 talking to friends or checking email or texting or playing games. Marge and I are the same. We have a few friends who text us fairly regularly. We also enjoy Facebook and the new emails.

In many ways, I miss the times back when I was little, saddling up one of our horses and spending the day doing nothing. Then after supper, we'd sit around the table playing cards.

I think the closest I come to life back when I was a kid is when I make some coffee and just sit and visit with an old friend. I've lost a good many coffee buddies down through the years: Janice Williams, Dallas Kinder, Willie Amos, Bill Slinkard, Lendy Wiggins and the list goes on and on. During the summer, Monte comes to the farmers market on Monday and we just sit and visit and have a coffee. Sometimes we just sit and enjoy the coffee. Good times.

Until next time.