My first contribution to this blog, entitled “Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself” (Feb. 4, 2021), concludes: “So I was left to ponder the BIG QUESTIONS: Am I destined to die alone? Why shouldn’t I get a dog?” *** The first question remains wide open. As for the second, well, I got the dog and […]
Revisiting My Past
The sun on the water is sparkling. The sky is pure blue, cloudless. It was in the mid-eighties when we departed shore. A light breeze is coming from the south. Robyn has wisely brought along a sweater today, ready for the changing weather conditions one encounters on the water. However, no sweater is needed for […]
The Getaway
I read in Forbes that 47% of working Americans won’t take a summer vacation this year “because it’s too stressful to plan a getaway.” “5 Productivity Hacks To Avoid The Summer Slump And Stay On Track,” by Bryan Robinson, Ph.D. (found at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2024/07/02/5-productivity-hacks-to-avoid-thesummer-slump-and-stay-on-track/ ). While I no longer count myself among this group of Americans, […]
Goodbye, My Sweet
This past Tuesday marks four years to the day that Lee died. For years, Lee had successfully battled diverse types of cancer, and endured a host of other serious medical problems, with unusual grace and good humor. She was indefatigable and determined to beat pancreatic cancer nearly to the moment this terrible disease took her […]
On This Day…
Given that today marks my 73rd birthday, I thought it might be fun and interesting to examine a few “On this Day…” lists to take note of the significant historical events that I had assumed would coincide with it. Unfortunately, unless one has a special interest in the esoteric, say, for example, the numerous minor […]
Comfort in Numbers
I have written about the Frazier Thomas Band several times since I inherited this assignment at the beginning of 2021. Based on a local kids’ television show about a goose who thought he was the King of the United States, our band was purely a figment of our collective teenage imagination. Back then, life seems […]
Reflections on Being Married
Despite an undeserved hard guy reputation in some quarters, the truth is I am a sensitive, occasionally sentimental, fellow at heart. However, I’m not feeling particularly sentimental at the moment. As I have mentioned, for me June is easily the funkiest month. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it represents both the best of times and the […]
Nowadays, I Feel Ambivalent About the Beautiful Month of June
According to one poll of adult Americans (https://today..ougov.com/society/articles/45312-americans-favorite-and-least-favorite-months-year), thirty-nine percent love the month of June and an additional forty-one percent like June. Nine percent of American adults dislike June, only three percent hate it. I do not know how the results should be interpreted, except it further demonstrates that Americans cannot agree about anything nowadays. […]
School’s Out
My great-nephew graduates from grammar school this Friday. It will mark an important transition for the young man. It is a big deal! As I’ve mentioned here from time to time, I come from a small family. My mother, father, and sister are gone. My current “immediate” family is down to two nephews, one great-nephew—the […]
Born Young at Heart
I had finished a game of pickleball and was standing around with a few others, who, like me, were gathered by the fence waiting for the next court to become available, when I overheard “Charlie” talking to a fellow about his in-laws. “Charlie” said his in-laws lived in a suburban housing complex that recently had […]
North Country
As a financial contributor to and supporter of its mission, I’ve just received a copy of the latest issue of the Nature Conservancy magazine. It featured an article on the Conservancy’s efforts to reclaim and protect huge swaths of land in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, a region known in these parts simply as the U.P. […]
“M is for the Many Things…”
I have been invited to spend Mother’s Day with Robyn at the home of her son, Kevin, whose brother Brian is flying here from California to celebrate the occasion with us. Of course, Robyn’s daughter Jill also will be there. So too, at least one, if not more, of Robyn’s grand kids – one never […]