Local Kids TV from my Formative Years

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I stumbled across this video which I actually recall watching that exact episode of Patches and Pockets as maybe a seven year old.

Times have changed in what kids would view as 'acceptable' and interesting, that's for sure. The two rag dolls 'playing in the street' which is nothing more just another part of the set. The power of imagination which I think is being lost.



And the bugs...I remembered the episode from imaginary bugs discussed. See, as I little kid, I would go outside and watch the insects in our backyard, when not playing with my plastic dinosaurs and army men.

Sometimes I'd sneak a quarter teaspoon of sugar from the kitchen and place it on the ground to watch the ants come out of their nest and work to recover the 'sweet' find. Once I'd found the holes to the underground nest, I'd experiment over a week or so to see how far away the scout ants would venture to find the sugar treasure...and where the crossover might be for another ant colony to discover the food...and would the two colonies go to war over it? If I recall, the ant scouts would venture up to five steps.

And to find a stag beetle and pick it up without getting pinched? That was the really cool in my young eyes. And to find a praying mantis in the garden, and watch it, hoping to see it catch another insect. Only once I saw one catch a white-winged moth. The mantis wasn't as lightning fast as I thought it would be, but it was fast enough, obviously.

Anyway, I stumbled across a clip of classical music, and it drummed up the memory of the Patches and Pockets show. It wasn't my favorite show, but my sisters liked it, and we had one TV, and, of course, a limited selection of channels (24, 11, 13 and 30--PBS). Even so, I recall thinking it was cool to see places like the Toledo Zoo, where I'd visited on TV--Patches and Pockets.

Times have changed--and interesting stuff you can find on Youtube.
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