Our daughter and her husband, recently returned from Disneyland, had a special-request Christmas gift for my wife who had seen it in a gift shop when we all visited last year – a Holland figurine from “It’s a Small World After All.” After all – speaking of ‘after all’ – she’s Dutch. One-hundred percent. Which […]
Rag Muffins, Grandchildren, and Family
“Donnnnnnnn, Donnnnnnn, I know you love me . . . I know you want me . . .” OMG, the siren call of rag muffins. I tried to resist. Cousins were coming over for mid-morning breakfast before they flew back to their homes in Detroit and Los Angeles. “Donnnnnnn, Donnnnnn . . .” What’s a […]
Westside Story – We Will Miss You Stacie
Hey, before you look at the photo below, please do two things for me. #1. Do not tell my wife or Stacie’s husband about the picture. #2. Give me a chance to explain the photo. I know the photo makes things look a little suspicious. It appears I am trying to avoid those meet the […]
Letter: Living the dream
Sometimes when we push the switch that turns on the gas fireplace in our home, he’ll pretend he’s putting out the flames while aiming an imaginary fire hose. When he’s backing up his rig, ‘beep, beep, beep’ he’ll make the sounds until satisfied with his parking effort. Roaring out of the station (living room) with […]
2018; The Year In… A Few
JBLM turns 100. It has survived two world wars and a police action or two and a few BRAC panels. I’ve spent many a night in those rickety North Fort barracks. They were built for the second war to end all wars which were intended to be destroyed antebellum; says the Pentagon… ‘nuh-uh’. Kids gave […]
Home from Home: Auf Wiedersehen!
Another year is reaching its end. To this day, my Friday column “Home from Home” has reached the number of 74 short essays in almost one and a half years of contemplating differences between my native country and my new home country, writing, and sharing it with you. So many of you have reacted in […]
Donate those unused eyeglasses
Looking to donate those eyeglasses you’ve had laying around the house for a long time? Look no further than the Lakewood First Lions Club, which has been collecting and recycling used eyeglasses since 1954. The used eyeglasses collected by the club (more than 8,000 in 2017) are processed and packaged by the Northwest Lions Eyeglass […]
Robin Hood and the Plight of the Arrow
“Robin Hood, Robin HoodRiding through the glen.Robin Hood, Robin HoodWith his band of men.Feared by the bad,Loved by the good,Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood” That little ditty has been running through my mind since 1955. “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959. In the fall of 2018 […]
Getting Things Off My Chess
In the sixth grade at Navy Base School in Lakewood I would watch my fellow classmates play chess. It’s like Yogi Bera said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” I bought a cheap chessboard and some plastic chess pieces and looked for opponents. That summer some contractors who were working at Ft. Lewis […]