Questions For The Ages

I've been pondering some pretty heady questions lately. Maybe you can
help with some answers. For example, just how much is a smidgeon? Is it more
or less than a skosh? And do Old Wives ever tell the truth or do they just
run around telling tales? When you don't give a hoot...what do you give? A
holler? And in...As the crow flies...what if the crow doesn't know the
way? Hmmm...troubling indeed. These days, just how valuable is your two
cents worth? And if time flies when you're having fun...does it have to take the bus
when you're not? If time heals all...what heals time? And how many times
have you been told to sleep tight? Well...at the end of the day...if the truth
be told...what's wrong with sleeping a little loose every now and then.
Like I said...pretty heady stuff. Questions for the ages no doubt.

A Good Idea

My wife thought it would be a good idea to put a new light fixture in the dining room. My wife has a lot of good ideas. Yep...really good ideas. Should be an easy little job...right? Take about an hour or so and voila...let there be new light. Unless you’re like me and feel that everything on the other side of a switch should be left to highly trained professionals. But c’mon...it’s a little light fixture. How hard can it be? So, I stared at it for about an hour trying to answer that very question. Then I put in a call to the Governor to see about shutting down the power on this side of the state or at least the city. No luck. Out of excuses, I shut off every circuit breaker in the house and went to work by flashlight. OK...connect black to black...white to white...ground to ground...and for God’s sake don’t let anything touch anything! I turned the breakers back on, evacuated the area, said a quick prayer to the patron saint of light fixtures...and flicked the switch via broom handle from the next room. Thank God nothing blew up. Now my wife is talking about replacing a faucet. My wife has a lot of good ideas. Yep...really good ideas.

Slanted Rays and Colored Days

Fall will be here soon. Arriving with her many colors like bright burning embers of summer’s dying fire. Beautiful, but brief. Marking the cooling of the air...the lowering of the clouds...and the coming of Winter’s silver blue. The slanted rays and colored days, as Lightfoot put it, stir many emotions. There’s a certain sadness about a lonely chevron of wild geese in the distant sky. And the rattle of dry leaves on shivering, skeleton trees. Night falls sooner and seems a shade darker. It’s a bittersweet time of memories...loves lost and found and old friends and family past and gone. For me...I know I miss my Dad more in the Fall. I do love the Fall though. Sweater weather and nightly fires in the fireplace. For all the endings Fall brings it’s also such a gateway of promise and good times. Soon will come the little ghosts and goblins of Halloween. The warmth and good cheer of Thanksgiving. The magic of Christmas. The hope of a brand New Year. Fall...the bright burning embers of Summer’s dying fire. The season of what might have been. The season of what could be.

Grow Up...Never...I Hope

Is it possible for us to grow old...without growing “up”? Now growing older does make certain things inevitable. I mean, gravity kicks in for one. And some of us, though not nearly enough of us, will gain a certain measure of maturity and wisdom. And that’s a good thing. After all, there will be adult type decisions to make, check books to balance, Monday morning alarm clocks, tomorrows to plan for and children to raise. But can we grow older without losing our ability to wonder...giggle...imagine what if...or have fun, even at the risk of looking silly? I hope some of us can. And I really hope I will be one of those some. I see too many people who have grown “up” way before their time. The ones who don’t see Autumn’s beauty...they curse the coming of winter. They don’t hear a child’s laughter...they complain about the noise. And they haven’t wished upon a star in years...they’ve forgotten how. Can we grow old without growing “up”? Well...I’m going to give it my best shot. How about you?

Deck Danger

I never realized that just by sitting on my deck I could be in danger. At least, as much danger as a falling acorn can cause. I swear, it was bombs away out there today. Acorns raining from the skies. Acorn Smart Bombs wreaking havoc on hanging baskets, bird feeders and gazing balls everywhere. Then I noticed that those acorns weren’t just free falling...oh no...they were being dropped by squirrels. In fact, they were being thrown by those pesky critters. And that one lefty had a damn good slider. Black ones, brown ones, grey ones alike...all standing together. United in one common effort. To bean whatever and whoever they could. Now, maybe I’m reading too much into this. I mean maybe...just maybe they were knocking those acorns to the ground so it would be easier to gather and store them for the winter. But I swear I heard one of them whisper, “You take the bald guy...I’m goin’ for the gazing ball.”

Excuse Me For Just A Minute

Would you excuse me for just a minute? I’ll get back to my regular blog soon, but right now there is something I just have to do. I’ll be right back. So…Rush…old pal…there’s something I think you need to do. I really think this is important. I think you need to pack up all your medications and hop on a plane to France. Catch a cab to Normandy and take a walk on the sands of Omaha beach. Then a stop at Bastogne would be appropriate and, of course, Midway Island and Iwo Jima. And in each of these places I think you need to fall on your knees and kiss that sacred bloody ground. You really owe a huge thank you to all the brave young men and women who fought and died in these places to make sure you kept the right to make the very good living you do by spewing the fear mongering, hate mongering, race baiting half truths, rumors and insane assumptions you do every day. Tip your hat and say thank you Buddy…it’s the least you can do. OK…now where were we?

So Much More

The other day, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in many, many years. She had the same sweet smile, the same bright blue eyes...she was the same person I knew so long ago. Except for one thing. There was so much...more. So much more to her story...so much more to her being. When I knew her before she was a single young woman with hopes and dreams. Now she ‘s married, she’s raised a family, created a career...she’s lived, loved, laughed and cried over a thousand different experiences...situations...and events. There have been births, deaths, dreams come true and bitter disappointments that have all added to who and what she is now. I think that’s true of all of us. As we grow older we fill up with the life we live. We keep completing page after page of a never ending story that is who we are. So, while I looked at that same sweet smile and those same bright blue eyes...I wasn’t really looking at the the same person I knew so many years ago. Because after all those years...there’s now so much more to her story...to her being...to her.