By John Pixley | Special to the Courier

 “TURN THE T.V. OFF”
“TURN THE T.V. OFF”
“TURN THE T.V. OFF”
“TURN THE T.V. OFF”

The signs in the front yard not far from my house are, if nothing else, insistent. They yell out at me every time I go by.

I could see them as a gentle encouragement, a friendly reminder. I could see them as a neighborly nudge, a good-natured entreaty. What I see each and every time I pass by is an urgent wake-up call. I literally hear alarms going off.

Perhaps it would be better to see the gentle encouragement, the neighborly nudge. But with the four signs lined up one after another, coming at me as I go by, I can’t help but become concerned, hear sirens blaring.

Every time I go by these signs, I see another warning. I want to say that they protest too much. Or, more to the point, that they protest in the wrong way.

For one thing, is the message really that we shouldn’t watch T.V. at all? Are the signs saying, screaming, that there is nothing good on television?

Sure, there is a lot to be said about the “boob tube,” about how television is a “vast wasteland.” But what about Sesame Street and The Crown, Murders in the Building and The White Lotus, I, Claudius and The Residence?

Should we really not watch these excellent shows and dozens of others? I’m all for reading and the joys of curling up with a book, but is watching a show or two on T.V. so bad? We can certainly use some distractions these days.

But not too many distractions — which is my point.

I suspect, or would like to think, that the signs are referring to the news on T.V. While this is more understandable, the signs are still wrong. Perhaps a friendly suggestion would have been okay, but definitely not this alarming demand. Even the friendly suggestion would have been a mistake.

Look, I get it. Running away from the news on our televisions, turning it off, sounds pretty appealing. The news coming out of Washington, D.C., has been more than overwhelming, a daily onslaught of mind-blowing changes, a constant barrage of shattering moves. Even some of those who voted for this regime are at least taken aback, caught off-guard.

I have friends who have decided to retreat, who have stopped watching the news, and who tell me I should do the same for my sanity. And I hear them. Hiding away, curling up with a good book, chilling on Netflix sounds awfully nice, so very good.

But that is the last thing we should be doing. That is exactly what the current administration wants, what it is hoping for and trying for. It wants us to be overwhelmed and to give up and not care. Now is not the time to not watch what’s going on, and it’s really not the time to give up and not care. It is not the time to be complacent and especially not the time to despair.

If we give up and don’t watch what’s going on, this administration can, as it’s hoping to do, get away with doing all sorts of things, ultimately including things they weren’t elected to do.

So, how do we not feel overwhelmed and powerless when we are in a small town far from the tirade of norm-breaking decrees? How do we do more than sit and watch — or not watch —what’s going on?

We can make Claremont an even better small town in which to live.

I am thankful these days that I am in a small town where I feel encouraged to express myself and be creative. I am grateful to live in a small town where being a community and a better and better community is so important.

Being able to so directly participate in and support the arts and cultural institutions, the library and the community and community-making (including with this non-profit newspaper) here in Claremont is a reminder of what I can do, of what we all can do. Being able to come together and work together to hear each other and to make this community even better and more enjoyable gives us power. Hashing things out in city hearings, joining in local protests, helping immigrants and the homeless instead of demonizing them or taking part in such civil dialogue endeavors as the Circle of Chairs reminds us that we can get things done, that we don’t have to just watch what is happening.

In a town like Claremont, we can find ways to do what another sign in the yard rightly encourages us to do: “Stay strong.”