Son goes down, Sun comes up

I have an addiction to sound, you see. So, I feel much more at ease when there is some background noise: music, TV, the birds from an open window, my co-workers discussing deadlines, budgets, you get the idea.

Well, I'm working at home for the first half of the day, so I don't have the benefit of ambient budget talks to sooth my soul. And my son, Simeon, has gone down for his nap. The lonely hum of the furnace isn't doing the trick. I flip on the telly — it's Kathy Lee and Hoda. That'll never do. I love sound, but Kathy Lee — well, I don't know how Regis made it as long as he did. I start flipping. I check the HD channels first. I landed on HD Theater by Discovery, which was showing Sunset Earth. I had never seen it before, but sounds intriguing enough. Intriguing it is. But, not so intriguing that I can't focus on work emails — or a work-related blog.

Sunset Earth, is aptly named because it shows, well, sunsets; It shows sunsets in locations that I may never get to visit in my lifetime. Today's episode shows a sunset at the Sacred Temples of Angkor. There's no soundtrack. There's no voice over other than what the birds provide. There's no special effects aside from the color change on the landscape as the sun changes position — all in stunning HD. It's like I'm working in a satellite office in Angkor.

My only criticism is of the commercials. While limited, they are even more jarring after your mind gets synced to the sound of nature.

You should check it out; it's reality television you don't have to be embarrassed to admit watching.