Now that my relationship with Amazon has ended, I am very happy to once again make the entire compliment of Uphill Both Ways available on this blog. I have organized the book on a new page Uphill Both Ways to … Continue reading
30 is such a good age. You’re close enough to your prime in your 20s, yet now growing into a nice maturity where you make fewer mistakes and enjoy life more. You might be getting married or even starting a … Continue reading
Today I sit in the quiet of the morning with the faint tap of rain on the roof and the click of my keyboard. It’s a perfect writing atmosphere. A little while ago, I heard a little whispered voice say, … Continue reading
This is a wonderful Easter rendition of the Leonard Cohen song. Happy Easter everyone.
Let’s say that you’re one half of a happily married couple and that you’ll be married for 50 years before one of you passes into the great beyond. In that 50 year time period, you will have been married 18,250 … Continue reading
I was called by many names in my lifetime: baby, sibling, teenager, Uncle, In-law, parent, grand parent. At each stage, I took pieces of this journey and grew. I am not my father yet many see him in my eyes … Continue reading
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My father was a Mechanical Engineer. That was how he defined himself. Sure, he retired as the Executive Vice-President of the company where he worked for 42 years, but he was always an engineer first. The precision necessary for the … Continue reading
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My father was a bit of a pocket philosopher. There wasn’t an occasion or event that couldn’t be summed by a clever quip that he had learned while growing up. Some of these clever quips turned into what appeared to … Continue reading
I guess you would think that I had nothing better to do while working in that nice office in Falls Church, VA. but look out the window. That woodpecker and I sparred for a few weeks it’s true, but that … Continue reading
The schools in the area surrounding the new house were reportedly very good and our future was bright. Sarah and Patrick thrived at this new house. We were in the middle of the Civil War [locally referred to as The … Continue reading
When Sarah was four and Patrick had yet to experience his second birthday, something happened. It was something that I swore I would never let happen. In my job, I had shunned travel assignments or any other interruptions to my … Continue reading
So far, in our short married life, my wife and I had made a few conscious decisions. Among other things, we decided we wanted to have a girl and a boy and if that happened right away, our family would … Continue reading
We found out we were pregnant in March of 1989. Yes, we, as I have always believed that creating a family isn’t just, ‘you’re pregnant and I’m along for the ride.’ We were growing our family together and we couldn’t … Continue reading
Here are a few notable examples of life at our house in those early days. We had a nice little patch of lawn at our house in Lakeville. It was perhaps 12,000 square feet and it took me about an … Continue reading
This is a story about two events; one where an 18-month-old child gets very sick and another about how life has changed in the last 25 years. We had just returned from a road trip to Maryland. Sarah seemed to … Continue reading
In those early days when we first began considering parenthood, the question of ‘how many children do you want to have?’ was always a part of the discussion. I would always answer that ‘six is a good number,’ and my … Continue reading
After my wife had been given 48 hours to recover, our new family of three was headed home. The new car seat was inspected first by the hospital staff, approved, and off we went. My mother-in-law had arrived for a … Continue reading
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I didn’t understand it. It was raining. It was always raining. I had my Davy Crockett fringed jacket and my Daniel Boone ‘coonskin cap and I was, as usual, ready to explore the acres of woods around the house. So, … Continue reading
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My sister Barbara was 10 years old and my sister Janis was 8 years old when I was born. Since my parents were both in their late 30s at the time, clearly I was an accident. Nevertheless, in some fashion, … Continue reading
Frustration is the difference between what you think it should be and what it is. I used this expression endlessly during my career. I have found that people will be happy with just about anything if they are prepared for … Continue reading
Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice? By Holly Patrone http://www.hpatrone.com I’ve written two humorous novels, ‘Death Is a Relative Thing’ and ‘Relative Identity’. They aren’t memoirs but it’s hard not to let bits and pieces of real life roll into … Continue reading
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Small Town Mother’s Daughter By Robyn Lawson by Blog Woman!!! (robynlawson111.com) Once in a while, my mother plays for me an old country song called, “Idol of the Band.” One of the chorus lines says, “You may just be some small town … Continue reading
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It’s official, I am going to introduce an ordinance in Prince William County that no one beyond a certain age and of questionable heart activity shall be allowed on their front porch after 11:30 pm. Yes, that’s right, I did … Continue reading
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AFTER THE FALL by Rebecca Platt http://Depressionsgift.com Some facts about my mother, the subject of this post. She is eighty-nine and maintains her own home. She’s a size eight with a figure most women fifty years younger would envy. I … Continue reading
When I first met the woman who would become my wife, I noticed that when she became very tired, her left eye would turn in slightly. We would most often call this ‘lazy eye’ even though there are much more … Continue reading
As many of you know, I have been researching the mystical and magical world of marketing. What I have found so far is there are some things in life that are just ‘beyond the call.’ For me, this is one … Continue reading
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I would like to think that this is the last of my wildlife stories, but there are always new members of the animal kingdom that wander in from time to time. There is one important difference with this story; it … Continue reading
I’m beginning to think that perhaps my front porch is not a very good place for me. It is my porch and I like being out there, but … Last night, at 11:30 pm as usual, I was again standing … Continue reading
Last Sunday night I ventured out onto the front porch. It was around 11:30 pm and the waxing crescent moon had already set. Most of our neighbors keep an outside light on during the night so there are always faint … Continue reading
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That was some, er, feet By Terri S. Vanech http://www.pushingonarope.com There’s an old saw that says you should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, but you couldn’t have gotten very far in mine today. I took a quick break in … Continue reading
Let’s say you are a supervisor or middle manager at a small company. Nearly 52% of workers in the US work for small companies. In many ways, it can be a better place to work. There are no big company … Continue reading
One of my very favorite record albums of all time is Sgt. Peppers. I bought it in the fall of 1967 and played it until the vinyl groves melted away. Eventually I had to buy the record again. When I … Continue reading
Now that you have decided you are going to help clean up the planet, you are probably looking for something new that you can do this year. You replaced all the incandescent light bulbs in the house with the new … Continue reading
