Today is like a day many, many years ago, in a land far away.  Hot, Humid, and the last gasp of a sweltering summer.  Today I am doing house work, and watering the lawn.  Back then, we lived in Camp housing, and the lawn was always brown anyway.  It was Southern California. We had just moved in.  Having come from a place that was actually even more arid.  I was 12 going on 13, and the new kid in the area.  At the time, we were a family of 7.  And that w...

Yea, I guess my Neighborhood is.  In it, I know my neighbors.  Why?  We are not afraid to stand outside and do yardwork and talk.  In it, I see people walking down the road.  And a man on a bicycle riding by with a child on the back, and yelling "Hi Mom" to the walking lady.  I see a father strolling his daughter.  I see many people walking their dogs and as they pass, saying Hi.  I suspect their dogs are not from this street, but from others around her...

My wife is off to Germany to attend a wedding, so I got 10 days of boring and batching it.  But before she left, I gave her a crash course in a few German phrases.  And that was a riot! I first told her to forget "Quanta Costa?" that in Germany it was "Wievil?".  They are more succinct, you got to admit (my wife is fluent in Spanish and she does all the talking when we go to Mexico). But it took 15 minutes of tutoring to get her to say Ich correctly.  Even Kennedy could...

I took my son Bowling today.  I have been bowling for about 40 years.  But today, this young whipper snapper beat me 2 out of 3 games! He is finally starting to get the hang of bowling (less lobbing and more aiming).  And while none of the games were a blow out, he beat me!  Gone are the days when I had to stroke his ego! Now he is just doing a victory dance and waiting for my wife to come home to crow about it! "But...But....But.... My shoulder hurt!".  Suck it...

His name is Mathew.  He is now 7 years old.  The irony is that I have another nephew on my wife's side that is also named Matthew.  He is also 7 years old (they are a month apart in age). But that is just one of those strange things. My sister's son has Down's syndrome.  He is not retarded.  That is an outdated term.  You know how PC goes. It was in vogue 40 years ago, but not now.  Now they are 'differently abled'.  And I hate PC!  But in some...

I always loved that line (the title) from Star Trek (Sorry DJ, it was from the original - but a great episode).  But this is not about Star Trek.  But it fits. Day 3 of the new baby! Yes, that adorable little kitten named Sally.  My wife told me 'she sleeps through the night".  And I am from the government to help you, the check is in the mail,yada, yada yada! She does not.  fortunately, she does sleep to about 4/4:30am and then wants to play.  As I have go...

When I was young, my mother cut my hair.  She had 2 styles.  Crew cut (hate it!) and Bowl cut (at least it was not a crew cut).  I remember going off to college and getting a girl to cut my hair, I actually could tell her how I wanted it! (Although I was clueless at the time). Then came post College and I was not going to get a MOM cut!  So I was recommended to a stylist that was my mother's friend.  She was a professional!  But I did not know what she looked lik...

I have been reading Tova's articles, and they really move me!  Such a childhood, and to see what became of all that?  A wonderful person. But recently, someone (I forget now, so please, I did tell you I was going to write on this, speak up) recently talked about a bad childhood where the parents stayed together.  At least for awhile. My Childhood was nowhere near as bad as Tova7's  I had a loving, if angry mother.  And no father (faithful readers will remember that...

Yes, I, a father of 4, made a major mistake!  I bought a rerun!  I did not do it on purpose (the company shipped the wrong product).  And I did not even look.  It said what I thought it should say, and so I was content that my shopping was done! But low, a star arose!  It was not Christ the lord!  It was my youngest son!  And while proudly showing him the ill gotten booty of his siblings, he noted "Dad, Alex has that one already!".  Looking aghast, I re...