A nature lover at heart, I wouldn’t hurt a flea—but a fly . . . yes!
I have never heard anyone voluntarily, or under duress espouse the virtues of the common fly. I understand that they are part of creation just like me, but that doesn’t give them the right to pester, pollute and perpetrate everyday acts of annoyance on innocent people. Actually, my disdain for the fly goes way back. (more…)
Don’t get me wrong. I like cats as much as the next guy. But I have to say that this stray hanging around the house is causing me to seriously reconsider my position. I’ve temporarily named him Cat-astrophy, and here’s why. (more…)
We spend half of our life with a TV and the other half without—by choice. Our conclusion is: without is much sweeter. Here’s why. (more…)
We decided it was time to repaint the picket fence.
The curved pickets are pieces of sculpture—works of art. For hundreds of years those whitewashed points and curves have worked their way into our collective hearts and psyche as an integral part of the American landscape. Ours definitely needed a lot of scraping, priming and painting, but we were up to the task. It had been about 10 years and we knew pretty much what to expect. Or so we thought. (more…)
What’s going on here? Is this some kind of a prank? Well . . . if so, it’s not very funny!
It all started this afternoon when I was sanding the kitchen window sill getting ready to repaint. I decided to get fancy about it and vacuum at the same time to eliminate all of the dust from the electric sander. It’s easy. Just hold the hose of the vacuum cleaner about an inch from the edge of the sander and all of that dust is miraculously sniffed away. No problem. (more…)
Do things right the first time!!! Although it may seem more costly or time consuming, it’s always better in the long run. Well there’s the catch right there—the long run. This powerful little axiom has come up repeatedly over our 40 some years together and you would think, that we might have picked up on it, say . . . 2-3 years into things. But no! We decided to learn about quality the hard way—over time. But, we finally learned our lesson! (more…)
We just spent a delightful weekend under the “D” in the Hollywood hills. That famously gi-normous word that hovers on the side of the mountain, has recently been refurbished and is even more white, blocky and ever-present than before. Although it’s actually a rather crude and corny adornment, over the years it has become an icon known the world around as the symbol of star-studded glamor and movies that have changed people’s lives. (more…)
We have a little black and tan dachshund named Izzi-B. For 14 years now she has consistently searched out the highest possible perch on the sofa and that’s where she settles in to just look around to see what she can find, or sometimes (more often), to take a nap. For some reason, she wants to see the world from the top down, and I can relate to that. (more…)
We were driving through the rolling hills and plains of central Indiana and southwestern Ohio a couple of weeks ago. It was smack dab in the middle of a winter freeze, so the patchy snow and the gray-brown horizon of leafless trees presented a rather somber welcome. In some strange way we hoped for an unusual blizzard, or a sudden ice storm to sweep through, as they can be incredibly beautiful . . . but those moments are few and fleeting as the winter months drone on. (more…)
We arrived in Indiana on a Monday afternoon. After a wonderful dinner at Piper’s on the southside, we drove to beautiful Brown County, where we settled in for a good night’s rest. The next morning a brisk walk seemed in order. In less than a minute, Harold single-handedly assembled the “motorcycle” from its pieces, which were casually scattered about the living room floor. (more…)
Uncommon promise 