If the 2016 election has your stress levels maxed out (and honestly, if it doesn't, I'm not sure we've been watching the same race), then there's a good chance you're doing your best to avoid social media today. And newspapers. And radio. But don't count television out just yet, because on Election Day, the Weather Channel is playing nine hours of counter-election programming. Like, they literally used the words "chill marathon" in an official statement. If that's not a sign that we're living in the Twilight Zone, I don't know what is.
Beginning at 3 p.m. EST and continuing until midnight, the Weather Channel will be playing "the most beautiful, awe-inspiring, and calming weather video and scenery every caught on tape," the network said in a press release last week. Clouds, rainbows, "autumnal splendor" — oh, and jazz. Smooth jazz, specifically. For nine hours straight. This is where we're at in terms of cultural needs. We require low-key, across-the-board sedation.
But for those of you who are Weather Channel purists, worry not — programming will be interrupted if there's a severe weather warning, and the popular Local on the Eights weather forecast will temporarily break up the zen fest as well.
Though The Weather Channel has been tight-lipped about who, specifically, will be supplying the nature footage, they're pretty confident in their program's impending success, the first of its kind to ever air during Election Day. "This election night, as other networks go low, The Weather Channel goes high... to the sky that is!" they said in a blog post.
The Weather Channel appears to be the only major channel offering any sort of respite from election stress, so if nature scenes or super chill saxophones are not your thing, you may need to DIY some of your own brand of counter-election programming. Personally, I'll be turning my phone off, cooking, marathoning cartoons, and utilizing my "Nasty and Proud" glass. But hey, the San Francisco Zoo will also be livestreaming red panda footage on their Facebook page, so at least there's that.
The bottom line is, you do you. Because if we've ever needed self-care in our lives, now is the time.
