Good afternoon, Mrs Cleaver!

I don't understand human psychology, let alone that of animals. I mean, it's one thing to analyze human behavior (as if behavior happens anymore), because we can gain insights by talking to the other humans.

Question: "Why did you steal your mother's car?"

Answer: "She looked at me funny when I was 7."

Everyone has all the reasons and all the justifications, but you wonder how right they are.

I bring all this up, because the other day, someone asked if anyone else watched, or left on, the Leave It To Beaver channel on Comcast, which plays nothing but old "LITB" episodes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The show premiered on October 4, 1957, which became a memorable day not only for introducing us to Beaver,  Wally,  June and Ward Cleaver, but also for the launch of the first Russian Sputnik, which kicked off the Space Race. America won the race by putting a man on the moon in 1969. 

You understand, in the days before cable and streaming and DVRs and whatnot, if you wanted to see the Beaver, you had to be there on Saturday night (or Wednesday night or Friday night; they jumped around a lot!) in front of the TV when it was on, or you missed it!

In October, 1957, I had just begun first grade, and when the last new "Beaver" ran in spring of 1963, I was finishing my sixth grade at Hampton Elementary, so that fit nicely.  And six years later, just after I scraped through high school, that's when the Americans got to the moon, in spite of what your loony friends tell you about it all being a Disney fakeout.

So yes, leaving the Streaming' Beave on Channel 4164 all day suits me fine. And we make sure to leave it playing for Eddie Cat when we go out, so she will feel right at home with Gilbert and Larry and Eddie Haskell and Lumpy and all the rest.

It's comfort food for the mind!