By Dorothy Hill of Dorothy’s Desk

Under most circumstances I reject outright the response of ‘guilt’. It’s time consuming, eats me up from the inside out, and fills me up with self loathing.

However, it’s time I finally own up to it. It is not an exaggeration to say that my family and friends do not understand. I’m okay with that. It even seems somewhat silly to admit to such an innocuous thing: I love watching reruns. Movie reruns and my favorite TV show reruns. Evidently I’m easily entertained.

I have a library of movies that I watch over and over. It’s just a collection actually, but library sounds so much more sophisticated. One of the big problems with that is that after I get my library collection almost in place, a new delivery format is created; so then I get to start over. It costs a bundle. Think video tapes being replaced by DVDs. Video tape players being obsolete and replaced by DVD players and the next technological step: the Blu-Ray.

There are still many of my Disney VCR tapes that need to be upgraded to DVD. They are thinner and don’t take as much room to store. My mini collection of the three versions of The Secret Garden all need to be upgraded. Three versions of the same title! It is interesting to see how the same story is interpreted differently over time. Jumanji, is an exciting story about spending your life surviving a game and trying to set things right once you quit playing. Even writing the titles ignites a desire to go watch one of these. I have kept a VCR tape player hooked up to my TV for this very reason: so I can have access to my outdated library.

When my children want to know what to get me for a special occasion I hand them a VCR tape and ask that they get that movie on DVD, Blu-Ray if available. Makes shopping for gifts for me pretty easy and within any budget they have. Guess I could hand them the Star Wars boxed set and hope for the best.

One of the things I do feel guilty about is the time investment in watching movies I’ve already seen many times. Really, how many times do I need to watch Firefly, the Complete Series? Evidently the answer is, at least one more time. And the reruns of NCIS, Castle, and Rezzoli and Isles? I could watch several shows every day.

So, the only reasonable thing to do if I want to keep my rerun library is to set a time limit. Except for my holiday watch list, like It’s a Wonderful Life and Charlie Brown Christmas. And now that I think about it, my Easter, Valentines, Thanksgiving and Christmas movie favorites. And of course my patriotic films in July.

I certainly cannot ignore The Wizard of Oz on my birthday since my name is Dorothy and I truly am from Kansas. Besides that, I was under a roll-away bed when an actual tornado ripped a path through my neighborhood. All I lack are the magical red shoes and the Munchkins and the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. I already know how to deal with the Wicked Witch, becaaaaause I’ve Seen The Movie!

Regrettably, I will also need a Tardis from Doctor Who. There doesn’t appear to be any other way to recapture the time I spend on reruns.
No judging.

Dorothy Hill has lived in Arkansas for 10 years. She finds it easy to invest an entire day reading while ignoring everything else. She is married and has 4 grown children and 4 grandchildren. She is currently serving as Secretary for the Little Rock Chapter of American Christian Writers. What she really wants to do is quit work and fill her days with writing.