May 14th was the 75th anniversary of Mom and Dad’s wedding in 1950. They celebrated 60 of those years together, before Dad passed away in 2010. I’m grateful for the lessons about love and marriage they provided my sisters and me, or to anyone who knew them.
Continue reading “Mom and Dad’s 75th”Weekend In Rodanthe
Cathy and I recently spent a wonderful weekend with friends at Rodanthe, NC on the Outer Banks. The area is beautiful and somewhat remote, a perfect getaway. Part of the town also has a small problem – beach houses occasionally wash into the ocean.
Continue reading “Weekend In Rodanthe”Itchy Eyes
I’m ready for spring to end. I love the warmth and flowers. I love the world turning green. What am I not loving? The tree pollen with the continual burning and itching in my eyes. The coughing. My plugged nose. When the pollen forms a yellow slick on the pond, you know it’s heavy.
Continue reading “Itchy Eyes”Die Schnupfmaschine
Yea, we own a Schnupfmaschine (Snuff Machine). What, you might ask, is a Schnupfmaschine? An ingenious little German contraption for shooting snuff up your nose. And why would you want to do that? Well, that story is a little longer, and perhaps a bit nonsensical.
Continue reading “Die Schnupfmaschine”Three Brothers (in Law)
It’s not a requirement to like your brothers-in-law, but it’s a good thing when it happens. I have been blessed with three GREAT brothers-in-law – Shawn, Don, and Jack. In my book, requirement one for any B-I-L is to love and care for your wife and family. All three do/did that and so much more.
Continue reading “Three Brothers (in Law)”Mom, 1948 and Her Tax Return
Tax Day! Mom was something of a pack rat – a neat one, but a pack rat nonetheless. My sister Roberta and I recently went through a box of old photos and papers and came across her 1948 Tax Return. She was a junior in high school at the time, and it turns out at a juncture in her life.
Continue reading “Mom, 1948 and Her Tax Return”Turning 70
It’s April 10th and I turn 70 today. As a kid, 70 seemed older than dirt. Now? I am simply happy to be on the right side of the dirt. At 70, 80 doesn’t look so old. Seriously, it’s all about perspective, isn’t it? Balancing the good and the bad, along with the choices we have made in our lives.
Continue reading “Turning 70”My Eyes
In 2021, my eye doctor, Shannon Moore, said my eye pressure was high. Elevated eye pressure, known as ocular hypertension, is a significant risk factor for, and can lead to, open-angle glaucoma and blindness. I followed her advice, and all has gone well until my most recent eye exam.
Continue reading “My Eyes”Stress Dreams
A little dark humor. When I have stress dreams, they often take place at West Point. It is usually some version of a final exam coming up, and I haven’t studied or been to class all semester (yes, I know that could not happen at West Point, but it is a dream after all).
Continue reading “Stress Dreams”The Emu
Of the many, many things I thought I might be doing at Rohan Farm this morning, an Emu roundup was not in the top five or ten. In fact, it wasn’t even in the top 100. Still, there I was, helping Mike (no, not Doug) load two Emus into the back of his truck. You can’t make this stuff up.
Continue reading “The Emu”








