Mister Rogers

[Lisa <dozierwoman@hotmail.com>]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Melody <Malady579 at h...>" 
<Malady579 at h...> wrote:
> Torsten asked:
> > > *shy request* Will someone tell me who both Mr Rogers and 
Valerie
> > > Singleton are?
> 
> 
> GulPlum wrote:
> >"Mr Rogers" is (or rather, was, considering he died this morning), 
as
> >I have found out today, a major figure in children's TV in North
> >America.
> 
> 
> As one of my friends told me recently...
> 
> You could say that.  You could also say the sky is blue.
> 
> You see.  Mister Rogers was a dear, dear man.  He was an honest,
> sensitive man.  *Always.*  There is no "behind the scenes" 
scandalous
> special on his life.  He was just and always Mister Rogers.  A few
> years ago, he received a special Grammy, and on the show, it was so
> amazing that he was in real life as he was portrayed in the show.  
We
> are so use to people on television "acting" that is was so 
refreshing
> and almost encouraging that Mister Rogers was in fact Mister Rogers.
> He was precisely what we always thought him to be as a kid.  So few
> perceptions in childhood hold true.  Mister Rogers is one of those.
> 
> He was so tender and gentle on his show.  He would walk to his house
> every day and come in at the precise time singing "It's a beautiful
> day in the neighborhood.  A beautiful day in the neighborhood.  
Would
> you be mine?  Won't you be mine?"  While he did he would change out 
of
> his adult "work" jacket and slip on leather shoes and into 
comfortable
> "play" cardigan sweater and softer lace up shoes.  He was not trendy
> or tricked up.  He was just the type of man that could kind of be 
your
> grandfather.
> 
> He would then continue to talk ever so calmly to you.  All while 
doing
> boring normal things like make bread or create a wooden box.  He 
would
> *always* remember to feed his fish.  Mr. McFeely would come with the
> mail and fun packages.
> 
> Sometimes Mr. Rogers would take us to trips to the music store to
> learn new instruments.  It was the first time I ever saw a "saw"
> played with a violin bow.  He would also go to the "local" school to
> show us that there is nothing to fear about kindergarten and the
> school bus drivers are friendly.  He would show how to buckle
> shoes...and oh, oh, he had this one video where he showed about how
> crayons are made.  Now I was so sure that *that* was the coolest 
thing
> I had ever seen.  Zillions of little red and blue and yellow crayons
> zooming around in conveyor belts.  I do so love to color you know.
> 
> And then there was the land of make believe.  Mister Rogers would 
turn
> on this trolley he had in his house that went off to the land of 
make
> believe like a toy train someone would have set up in their house.
> Sometimes he had these models he would "fade" from one land to the
> other.  It was always set up as a shift from reality.
> 
> It took me until I was a teenager to learn he was the one that was 
the
> voice for most of the puppets there.  It was a sort of walk-in 
puppet
> theater with a castle, big tree, merry go round, platypus mound 
thing,
> and a clock where the shy tiger Daniel lived.  Daniel was my 
favorite.
>  Though sometimes when I was a kid I thought he needed to get a
> backbone more, but he meant well.  Thinking back on it now, I cannot
> remember what the puppet plots were, but each puppet always had 
their
> own distinct personalities and goals, and I always looked forward to
> the land of make believe.
> 
> Really, to me, Mister Rogers was a show and a man I watched as a kid
> that was kind of basic and simple.  I don't really know why he was 
so
> enchanting to me and my brother.  We just laid there in the middle 
of
> the living room floor with our heads sharing the same pillow 
watching
> the show over and over.
> 
> Rest in peace Mister Rogers.
> 
> 
> Melody

Thanks, Melody for the rememberances. Thanks for taking me back more 
years than I care to think about to a special place where I could go 
someplace else for just a little while.

Lisa aka Lady Firenze