“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.” This is the opening from the Sept. 26, 1964 to April 17, 1967, run of the television sitcom, “Gilligan’s Island. ”

The storyline of the comedy, was about five people on a chartered boat, taking a three-hour tour on the Pacific Ocean, and being shipwrecked on a distant, uninhabited island, far from the Hawaiian Islands, along with the Captain and crew mate of the S.S. Minnow.

Funny thing about this comedy is that these seven castaways couldn’t get off the island, yet so many characters, who appeared in the program, had no problem getting to/from the island, but therein is what led to many of the episode storylines during the run of the series.

Obviously, there were many questions to ponder, about how they were able to do so many things (i.e. keeping the radio batteries charged), but they couldn’t figure out a sure-fire way to get back to civilization.

There have been many times I’ve been envious of Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor, and Mary Ann. Being on an island, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday (especially these days’) responsibilities, bill paying, political banter, bullying, shaming, hating, intolerance, virus, and so many other things it would be nice to escape from, sounds like a pretty peaceful and relaxing gig, just lying back on our homemade bamboo chaise lounge, eating coconut cream pies without gaining weight, and sipping whatever it was that Thurston Howell III was sipping from his coconut shell, while stranded on that island.

Every so often, I’d like to hit the lottery (actually, all the time), and win enough money to purchase my own little island (a plane too), that Sally and I can flee to, whenever needing a brief respite of peace and tranquility in our world, when things get a bit hectic.

I mean, how nice is it when we can find a quiet place where it is just you, or you and a loved one, and you can just get away to the quiet serenity and, like the professor did with the radio batteries, recharge our mental batteries to be able to go back and face the real world again, until the next time we need a little break.

I enjoy going to beaches, but beaches get crowded and hectic too. I love going to ballgames, but that’s on a hiatus right now, and anyway, there’s not a lot of calm and quiet there. I like attending concerts and plays too (also on hiatus), and they’re good things that help distract us from real world stresses every now and then for short times.

Still, it’s not like being somewhere alone or just with your special soulmate, listening to the concerts orchestrated and performed by nature, breathing in the fresh air, and throwing away (or maybe just putting away) our watches for a while, and not (and this one is very tough for me) worrying about where the TV remote is hiding. Sometimes though, I’m not just trying to be distracted from things that I have to deal with, sometimes I just want to escape all together. That’s not to say I won’t ever want to come back (hence the reason for wanting to win enough money for a plane too).

We all need times for ourselves, we all need to make time for ourselves. We all do a lot, help others a lot, try to give our all to our family, jobs, community, churches, and everything else we undertake in our lives. Maybe we all need to get on our own internal tiny ships, and take our own little three-hour tours (don’t make them three-year tours, unless you want them to be), and do something for ourselves.

“Gilligan’s Island” was a corny show and many enjoyed it. I’m sure many figured out a 1,000 ways for them to get off the island in the three-plus years tenure of the show, but maybe the writers subconsciously were trying to tell us something. Maybe they were trying to tell us to take some time for ourselves, so we’ll be able to do even more for others. Stay safe, all.