CHANNELING
Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo
Childhood Television Shows
People reminisce about their childhoods. I want to say I never got to know Mr. Rogers. He came too late for me. I was in the 8th grade when Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood began airing on PBS in 1968. As an adult, I enjoy catching glimpses of him here and there, and, of course, to speak with him in spirit were he so inclined.
As a psychic medium, I can do that. But only if the spirit is willing. I would never, ever think that I could force somebody to talk to me. (Please note the channeled bits in this piece are in bold italics.)
Hello, there.
Hi. Is it Mr. Rogers?
Yes, but you can call me Fred.
I never knew you.
No, but you did know Captain Kangaroo.
Yes, I did.
Would you like to talk to him?
Oh, I’d love it.
BK: Well, hello there.
PE: How is this going to go? I am talking to two people in spirit at the same time.
FR: Oh, that’s easy. You just put our names or even our initials in front of what we are saying, like a script.
PE: Okay. I’ll be PE. And, Fred, you can be FR, and Captain Kangaroo, you can be CK. Is that okay?
BK: How about if I go by my name, Bob Keeshan?
PE: Thanks. I’ll make it happen.
BK: It’s like you’re in charge.
PE: Well, I do have my fingers on the keys here.
BK: Yes, but what if we were to take control of your fingers?
PE: That sounds spooky. You wouldn’t do that to a kid, why would you do it in spirit?
BK: I was just playing with you. There won’t be any children reading this piece, will there?
PE: I suppose not. But you never know. What if some kid were to Google Captain Kangaroo and come upon this story?
BK: Then, I would say they are a smart kid.
PE: I’ve been calling you CK for Captain Kangaroo all through this piece. I had to go back through and change all the CKs to BKs. It’s like that story Dad used to tell about us. I don’t remember it happening, but he said when we were little, we were all so disappointed when he got promoted to major that he wouldn’t be a captain like Captain Kangaroo anymore.
BK: Do you remember Mr. Green Jeans?
PE: Yes, I do.
BK: What was your favorite show?
PE: I can’t remember. You were just you.
BK: Do you suppose that’s what happened with Fred Rogers? That everybody just remembers how he was as a friend. You don’t always remember specific instances of your associations with your friends. You just are. You hang out together, or you talk on the phone. You might not even remember what you talked about, just that you spent the good part of an hour on the phone with each other. I suppose that’s how it is with you and Seth. To other people, he is the Seth of Jane Roberts, but he is not like that with you.
PE: No, he is a friend.
BK: So, you really can’t say you don’t have any friends, can you?
PE: No, not if you count all the people and animals in spirit I talk to. (Afternote: Of course, I have friends. I just don’t have a lot of in-person friends.)
BK: Is it noisy for you?
PE: Oh, never. Well, maybe when my ears are ringing loud. But I’ve mostly gotten used to that. Now that you mentioned it, I can hear them ringing again. But that noise is in my ears. It was in the early days of my channeling, when the peanut gallery all talked at once, that it got sort of confusing. And then, I made a rule that only one person in spirit could talk at a time. It’s worked since then.
BK: Everybody is nice and orderly, then?
PE: Yes. Are you making fun of me?
BK: Can I give you some advice?
PE: Sure.
BK: Just be happy. I know sometimes it is hard to force something like that, but if you put that old smile on your face, something good might come of it.
FR: I agree with that. You’re never too old to smile, even if it appears you are smiling for nobody else.
PE: Thanks both of you for coming this morning.
Hi everybody. I’m back again. That was unexpected. That was really unexpected. In the 31 years I’ve been channeling, I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with two people in spirit at the same time. Maybe I can do it again sometime.
Captain Kangaroo aired from 1955 to 1984 on CBS. I was likely watching the show from 1960, when I was five years old, to 1964, when we moved to Oslo, Norway, for three years. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood aired on PBS from 1968 to 2001. I would have been 13 years old and past the time when I would have been watching shows for little kids.
If you were a fan of Captain Kangaroo or of Mr. Rogers, I hope you enjoyed our chat. You can talk to them too in your mind. You can say hi, thanks, or whatever, the same as you can talk to your loved ones who have passed on.
Thanks for reading.
The Links:
The Untold Truth About Captain Kangaroo — YouTube: The Grunge Top 10 Mr. Rogers Moments That’ll Make You Nostalgic — YouTube: Ms.Mojo Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — You Tube Mr. McFeely Interview
