Let's turn off our TV sets and let the impeachment smackdown simmer for a minute, and take a pretend journey back in time to the early 1960s.

It was a time when our AM radios (no FM, no earbuds, no Amazon) blared out hits like Ray Charles singing "Hit the road, Jack.” The Supremes chimed in with the soulful sounds of Motown. The great folk music scare was beginning as we were introduced to “Michael Row the Boat Ashore.”

We were all getting ready for Christmas as our ears captured the sounds of traditional carols and the twinkling of the Salvation Army bells outside shiny new shopping centers.

Our TV sets featured just three major networks that brought us the news that Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) had defeated Vice President Richard Nixon for the presidency. They told of how black students dared to sit in at segregated lunch counters. In sports, we were surprised when Ohio State, led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, lost the NCAA basketball championship to Cincinnati.

Most of our mornings began as we sat down with a steaming cup of coffee and the morning paper. We all had our favorite sections like international, national, and local news, sports, women's interests, and business stories, including a whole page of stock market tables. Don't forget there were bundles of pre-Christmas ads.

Our interests were different, but most of us took a look at the funnies before we started our day. At our house, and I am sure yours, the first comic strip we read was not “Dagwood and Blondie,” “Li'l Abner,” or “The Phantom.”

We always wanted to see what Walt Kelly had to tell us about the adventures, or misadventures, of a group of mythical animals who lived in the Okefenokee swamp in a strip called “Pogo.” Kelly used gentle humor, a bit of irony, and a lot of laughs as his creations Pogo the Possum, Albert the Alligator, and Howland Owl tried to make sense out of a confusing world.

Here are a few of the gems of wisdom that we learned from Pogo and Co., as collected by the website AZ Quotes:

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.”

“Don't believe something just because you haven't read it in the papers. Wait until you haven't seen it on television.”

Christmas season was not complete without Pogo's version of my all-time favorite holiday carol, “Deck us all.”

Stealing the tune from “Deck the Halls,” Pogo, Albert and the rest of the swamp critters sang “Deck us All.”

If you dare to sing it, here are the words:

Deck us all with Boston Charlie,

Walla, Walla, Wash., and Kalamazoo.

Nora's freezin' on the trolley,

Swaller dollar cauliflower Alleygaroo!

Don't we know archaic barrel,

Lullaby, Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou.

Trolly Molly don't love Harold.

Boola Boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!

Whew. See, it was not so tough. All it took was a bit of humor and a little imagination.

You know, I wonder if we all could do with a bit of whimsey and fantasy. After all, 2019 was a year we survived "Game of Thrones," the realization that our neighbors and friends at the Bigelow Lab for Ocean Science were right when they told us the climate is changing, and the tragic collapse of the Boston Red Sox.

We could do with a break from our seemingly insoluble problems such as what to do about mass shootings at night clubs and country music concerts. Most of all, we worry about shootings at our schools, where the targets were our most precious commodity, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

We all could do with a break from trying to get our heads around the idea that the magical medicines we need to keep our loved ones alive will cost $100,000 plus each year. We all could do with a break from thinking about what foreign big shots with closets filled with the mighty weapons of war might do to our friends and neighbors. And then there is Washington, D.C., where the best thing that happened all year was when the Nationals won the World Series.

Maybe we need to look to the Good Book for stories of redemption and love and seek thoughts of healing and solace.

When I fear we are getting a bit off track, I sometimes look back to the words of Pogo the Possum for a bit of wisdom.

Like this: “When we become negative and ungrateful, it is important to remember ... We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Maybe we all need a timeout. Perhaps it is time to visit with family and friends. And sing a silly song or two.