I was always an early riser as a boy, even on Saturday mornings—or maybe especially on Saturday mornings. The house was quiet as I rushed downstairs to the den, where our television was located. In those days, we could only get one channel clearly, Channel 8 from New Haven (originally Channel 6). I don’t think Hartford’s Channel 3 was on the air yet, and even after it did join the modest lineup, our reception of it was iffy. As for New York channels, we could only pick them up, briefly and unreliably, during atmospheric oddities, such as increased sunspot activity or the transit of Venus.

In any event, I’d get downstairs and turn on the set, and this is usually what I got to see:

It’s called a test pattern. In the days when TV channels did not run programming for 24 hours, they put up the pattern during the period (usually in the middle of the night) when they were off the air. So, depending on how early I was awake, I’d watch the test pattern for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, even a half-hour. The image was accompanied by a high-pitched tone that I still associate with boredom, impatience and anxiety. And then abruptly at 6 a.m., the test pattern would disappear, replaced by an image of a waving American flag and the playing of The National Anthem, which would signal the beginning of the broadcasting day. Real viewing would next commence with 15 minutes of union propaganda called “Industry on Parade,” an episode of “The American Farmer” or the early, early show I remember most fondly, a cartoon called “Crusader Rabbit.”

The thing is, as much as I happily recall Crusader, Rags the Tiger and their doings down in Gallahad Glen, it’s the test pattern that has stayed with me most clearly—and that I appreciate today for its unique blend of art and implied technology. Take a look at the test patterns collected here and tell me they aren’t beautiful, mysterious and high-tech all at the same time. If I had Jasper Johns’ talent, I’d bag the American flags and paint test patterns instead.

Tried the “she loves me, she loves me not” experiment with a number of different wildflowers today and was shocked to learn that she loves me not. Can this be true? And just who is this mystery woman?

It’s astonishing to me that every year just when it gets hot enough outside so that you need nice shady spots, the trees grow leaves and provide nice shady spots. This is nature at its best.

Today really does feel like the first day of summer here in Connecticut (as it’s supposed to on Memorial Day Sunday), a time when my mind drifts to the shore and to the view seen in the photo at the top of this page. It was taken from the roof of a cottage called The Decoy in Quonnochontaug, R.I., for many years the summer retreat of my wife’s family, the Grahams. As our three children were growing up, it was the ideal place for us to go every summer for at least a week, and maybe more if we could get it. As soon as our car hit the gravel drive, the kids were free to bike to the beach, play tennis, play baseball, go crabbing or try to trap rabbits down in the yard seen here. I was free to play in the surf, read for blissfully uninterrupted hours at a time and take outdoor showers in the sunshine. We went every summer for more than 20 years, and part of it will always be inside of me. Our family will be heading once again to Quonnie, but not to The Decoy, in late July, so we’ve got that going for us. The photo, by the way, was taken in early September a couple of years ago; the brown colors around the freshwater pond and the bare branches on the pear tree, at left, reflect the effects of an enormous salt spray sent up from the ocean beyond during a hurricane a month or so earlier.

We all need a project. Or maybe we don’t all, but I do. If I don’t have a writing project going, I end up spending all my spare time watching Turner Classic Movies (hoping for Myrna Loy to show up) and eating Smartfood. And when I eat Smartfood, my fingers get so cheesy and icky that I can’t type anyway, so I don’t even bother. (Although of course you can tip the bag back and pour the Smartfood directly into your mouth – just don’t try it while driving, especially when it’s one of those big bags and it’s still quite full. Take my word for this.) Anyway, my project is to get my writing life in order, here on this website, in what I hope will be an entertaining way. I welcome you to join me, I hope you will be amused, and I trust that you will be able to keep yourself occupied profitably when I am beset by extended periods of inactivity or incoherence.