Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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When I was little, my bicycle and I spent a lot of time together. You would see this little fat guy chugging all over town; that was my way to get around. There was only one thing that compromised my total enjoyment of biking - the dog on the corner. Yeah, since our street ended right after our house and our house was just beyond the corner, there was just no other way to approach our house. So, often that little dog would sense me coming; I'm sure he had lookouts posted. He would appear out of nowhere, charge my direction with teeth bared, his bark would send chills up my spine. I picked up my speed; boy, I got really fast! I could feel him nipping at my heels. I didn't even know I could pedal that fast! I think I could have qualified for the Olympics.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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We raised a son who loves sports, but he also had ability in music. How do you put those two together? A lot of times those two interests don't go together. Well, it was fourth grade when we thought it was time to introduce our son to a musical instrument. And when we talked a little bit about what instrument he'd be interested in, he said, "Well, maybe the saxophone."

Friday, February 24, 2012

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Not long ago our family got in one of those uproarious "remember when" conversations. And the subject was various times that we had disciplined our children, and they were going way back. This took an hour and a half of them thinking back, "Remember the time you..." "Oh, yeah, that was hilarious!" We explained, for example, how we had always tried to discipline with natural consequences. You know, if you did something wrong with your mouth, you had to be quiet for a while. Or maybe in some cases have your mouth washed out. If you did something wrong with your hands, then you had to fold your hands; you forfeited the right to use them. At which point our oldest son said, "But I never did anything wrong with my bottom!" Which is where a lot of the disciplining took place. So much for natural consequences!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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They call it the shark tunnel. Yeah, that has to make you think twice about going in. It's an attraction, if you want to call it an attraction, at some of the aquariums and theme parks in America.

The tourists walk through this tunnel that's surrounded by glass above them and on both sides there's water all around them. And on the other side in that water are huge sharks swimming menacingly in their tank, and occasionally bumping into the glass. I think just about everyone has this primeval fear of sharks. Now I can't speak for everyone, but I do. And suddenly there they were all around me, and I was paying to see them - one wall between me and those monsters! But it made all the difference.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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You know, sometimes it seems like there's a growing number of women who are really attractive until they open their mouth. Maybe that's why someone said, "There are girls you date..." Remember that? "...and there are girls you marry." Oh, our society stresses beautiful hair, and teeth, and eyes, and clothes, and they think that's all that beauty is to a lot of women. But every once in a while, you meet a woman who's got a quality that really makes her special. It's hard to put a name on it, but she's special. It's kind of like a beach ball I saw the other night. You say the other night? Yeah. Actually you can use this beach ball in the dark. It has a light inside.

Monday, February 20, 2012

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One of the amazing frustrations about families is that you just can't get everybody to agree on a comfortable temperature. Sometimes you can't even get a husband and wife to agree on it. One likes the room cozy and warm; the other likes it cool and refreshing, shall we say. It's hard even be in agreement on what is hot and what is cold.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

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Each of our kids has gone through a baking stage as they were growing up, and my wife and I got to sample some very interesting cookies, and cakes, or whatever they were. You know, new cooks have a hard time waiting for their first masterpiece to get done. They keep peeking, opening the door, checking on it, and even taking it out too soon. That just fouls up the temperature in the oven and you get results like a cake that's burned on the edges but gooey in the center. Or like our daughter baked...a cake that's flat. The young cook, at least one without a microwave, soon learns that impatience can ruin the final result.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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Well, for many years, Penn State was just one college of many with a powerful football program. And then not too long ago, it suddenly became the epicenter of a whole lot of outrage.

Screaming students; angry that Joe Paterno, their iconic coach - the "winning-est" college coach ever - had been summarily fired. And then the parents, the politicians, the pundits, enraged as they should be, at allegations of young lives ruined by sexual abuse. Allegedly by a coach who used a locker room as a place to horribly exploit young boys.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

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I won't be going to a Lady Gaga concert soon, but tons of people have and will. To some, that headline-generating singer is just another cultural side show. But at least for now, the entertainer known for her bizarre outfits and her wild performances is an A-list celebrity and a cultural icon.

And it's all too easy to forget she's a person. Like all of us, a person with a story. She's starting to tell some of that story. As I read part of it yesterday, I honestly felt sad. For all of her stratospheric success in the spotlight, there's apparently a lot of hurt offstage.

Monday, February 13, 2012

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Have you ever noticed how a baby learns to walk? Yeah, it's the "step, boom" method. Someone comes along and says, "I think it's about time", sets them up on their legs - you know, kind of spaghetti legs - and they take one step, boom. And, of course, they get up again, and the next time it's step, step, boom. And then step, step, step, boom, etc. You know.