Scaring the Crap out of Kids: 20 Truths They Should Know About Adulthood.

1.  You can’t just get up and run around and play like you do now.   You’ll have stretch and warm up first.  Otherwise, you’ll tear a muscle or hurt yourself. 2.  You can’t just knock on your friend’s door and ask them to play.  No, they’ll be “busy” and their entire summer will be “booked”.   [...]

Small-town Momemts #561 and #562

Last year, I bought a cordless lawn trimmer from the local Crappy-Hardware store, which is part of a large nation-wide chain. Last week,  the whipper-cord spool ran out, so I went back to the Crappy-Hardware to buy a refill. They’d actually expanded the store since then.   It’s now a huge brand-new shiny building, filled [...]

A Tale of Two Brothers

Once upon a time, there were two brothers. Both were clever young men, and both worked at well-paying jobs for large companies. Brother One worked at Flipperty-Jibbit, Inc., while Brother Two worked for the Sinkhole Widget Factory. One day, both brothers received some terrible news.  Their mother had been in an accident.  Both brothers rushed [...]

Feeling Superior

There’s something about Lake Superior that gets to me.   Especially the North Shore. I don’t know what it is.  Superior doesn’t have any spectacular snow-capped peaks like the Rockies.  There aren’t any dramatic icefields or fjords like you find in Alaska. Superior is just a big body of water, surrounded by lots of forest and [...]

Money Well Spent

Back in 2001, I had a brief career in Hi-Tech.    I worked for THAT company. You know..THAT company’s who’s stock skyrocketed, then crashed…. THAT company that laid off thousands of people.  (I was one of them). THAT company that’s a heart-beat away from bankruptcy today. Anyway, for the brief 8 months I worked there, I [...]

Travels with the Bear: High and Low Points

A while ago, I wrote about how Junior Bear has been from  Coast to Coast to Coast. He’s also been at the highest and lowest places in North America.  (At least, the places you can get to by car). Twice, actually.  Here are photos from both trips. The high point  is Mount Evans, Colorado, at [...]

Tipper Update

What a difference a week makes. Last week, Tipper was found after being lost for 24 days.  She was a few steps away from starvation, and barely had the strength to walk. Now, my sister reports that Tipper is back to her normal hyper self.  Running around, chasing the ball. Friar’s Mom was trying to [...]

Vikings Versus Dinosaurs

Who’s wining? I call it a draw….

The Dog who Came Back

A few weeks ago I had written that Tipper, my sister’s dog,  had run away. Back then, we were starting to get worried.   She had already been lost for over a week. Then there was a reported sighting,  near a grumpy farmer’s property.  Who was rumored to have shot dogs before. That’s about when the  sightings [...]