Do I Dare Shed Newsprint?

So my annual renewal bill from the Herald came yesterday. Since 1986, when Wifey and I bought our first house, I have been a dutiful subscriber. Back then, the Herald was a top 5 paper, and I actually learned a lot from it. These days, I don't know that there even IS a top 5, and if there is, the Herald isn't in it. I typically pay, and look forward to getting up early each day and fetching the bundle -- bringing it inside to read with a dog or two at my feet. Over the past few years I read the paper more online, but I still enjoy the feel of holding it in my hands and trying to keep coffee from spilling on it. And then I looked at the renewal price -- over $350. Nearly $1 per day. I drew pause. Had the time finally come to let my subscription slip? Was I truly ready to join the 21st century? D2 and Wifey watched as I stared at the bill. As Wifey pointed out, we all have tipping points when it comes to paying for stuff. Mine are humorous -- in my privileged way, I guess I have weird frugalities. Somehow, when the bill was below $300, it was ok. Now, maybe not... My initial reaction was -- that's it! But then I admitted I like to read the obituaries daily, and through they're online, too, somehow it's less creepy when I happen upon them in the Local section, as opposed to actively clicking on them. Hmmm...I must ponder this. The subscription ends in May, and we'll be gone from the 10th to the 22nd, so I'll decide upon our return from abroad. But the smart money in my own mind says this may finally be the end of a long era. My parents used to get the Sun Sentinel at their Delray condo, and I enjoyed reading it when I would spend a weekend there. But a few years after my Dad died, my Mom canceled the subscription -- part of her deep wisdom about avoiding bad news and negativity. She simply "didn't want it in her house" any more, and also, she abhorred clutter, and a daily dose of newsprint was something she enjoyed cutting off. I, on the other hand, am a news junkie -- I check the various news sources all day, to keep up with the latest misery worldwide. On of my sources over the past 9 years was the Gainesville Sun, so I could know early if there were serial killers or rapists near the UF campus threatening my Ds. Now, happily, our family's Gville days have ended, and I don't plan on caring too much about what happens in the 352. But back to Miami. It may in fact be time to keep the load in the recycle bin down. It may be Adios to my daily newspaper, at least in print. May all of my life's decisions be so comically insignificant.