Honey Badgers and the Countess of Grantham: What I love about PBS

The snow pack is melting in the rain, and the streets are flooded. Oddly, there is lightning and thunder, which seems strange after all the recent snowstorms.

Winter has been a time to find indoor activities, and we have enjoyed watching the Sochi Winter Olympics. As good entertainment as that is, I dragged myself away last night and changed the channel to the NATURE episode on PBS. We receive PBS for free, as well as CBS, NBC (the Olympics) and other popular channels with a digital broadcast signal.

Last night, this NATURE show was all about one of my favorite animals, the honey badger. This African carnivore is actually in the weasel family, the narrator told viewers. I've blogged before about the honey badger; I photographed the one above at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. This was a new special about them, and a pair were filmed up close living at a wildlife rehabilitation center. Other wild ones congregated around a refuge dump. The two caged ones, Hammy and Stauffel tore through locks and bee hives, made ladders to escape their pens and attacked other animals when they escaped. I'm just coming to realize how intelligent they are, and am fascinated by this discovery that they can problem solve and make tools.

But back to PBS. This was one great show worth seeing. Public television has so many great shows. One of my very favorites is Downton Abbey, which I have watched for several years now. I was very into Gosford Park, the 2001 movie also written by Julian Fellowes and filmed as a predecessor to Downton Abbey.

This is season 4 for Downton Abbey, and many viewers are just getting on the bandwagon. A couple of years ago, the show was sublime; Sybil was still alive, Maggie Smith was killing it as the Dowager Countess and the story lines were fast and new. This year has been a little scattered. I'm disappointed with the way Bates, Anna and the rapist's storyline has played out. Having the guy come back in the house somehow seemed far-fetched and disjointed.

Will Mary wrestle any more pigs? Will she quit pining over Matthew and say 'yes' to one of her suitors? Downton Abbey's season finale is this Sunday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m., so hopefully some questions will be cleared up. I can't wait. I will be watching next year, season five -

PBS has so many good shows. It's an impressive list: the Nightly Business Report and other news broadcasts, Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens, Austin City Limits.

Great Performances and other Masterpiece Theater classics besides Downton Abbey. Cooking shows, travel shows, Equitreking (horse-back travel) and children's shows. Science, history, art and culture. It's not great being stuck indoors in bad February weather. But if one has to be shut-in, an hour or two of PBS this winter just might make it not quite so bad.