TV4RV JULY NEWSLETTER
Vol.2 - No. 7

Trees

 

TREES

by: Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
 
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
 
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
 
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
"Trees" was originally published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914.

 

                                                                            

Trees provide a multitude of benefits for man - cleansing the air, providing oxygen and shade, etc.  They also serve to block the satellite signals from reaching your dish from time to time.  This can lead to some frustration, but it need not be so.

We recently took a four-day weekend RV trip to Florence, on the Oregon coast.  We stayed at an RV park that was just two blocks from the Pacific Ocean.  Our site was nicely buffered from the sea breezes by rows of tall pine trees on both sides of the RV site and in the back, just where I needed to point my satellite dish.  (See figs. 1 & 2)

Trees1.JPG (330641 bytes)
Fig. 1

Trees2.JPG (390428 bytes)
Fig. 2

Try as I may, using all the tools at my disposal, I couldn't hit even one satellite through that wall of trees.   Fortunately, the RV park had decent cable service with most of the programming we normally watch.  I simply put away the dish and plugged in the cable.  They also had high-speed broadband WiFi right at the trailer.  This allowed us to stream a movie from Netflix one evening when we couldn't find a TV show we liked.

The point is - no matter how much hi-tech gear you have for satellite TV there will be times when the only solution - short of using a chain saw - will be to make the best of it.  There are a few things you can do to minimize the chances of this happening, however.

When calling ahead for reservations you may be able to request a site that has a clear view of the southern sky for satellites.  Most RV hosts know which sites are "satellite friendly" and will try to accommodate you, if possible.

You can also try to pick RV parks that offer Broadband WiFi service.  (Not all WiFi is broadband.)  This will allow you to download many TV shows from the internet.  I have my computer hooked up so I can watch the shows on the TV.  With the downloaded shows you even get fewer commercials!

If all else fails - bring along a book or two.  I bought my wife a Kindle reader for Mother's Day and she LOVES it!  You can download new books from Amazon.com and the assortment of free books available is HUGE!

So, don't let the frustration of no satellite TV bug you - if happens to everyone from time to time.   Make the best of the situation and enjoy other aspects of your trip.

Happy camping!