Summer's End

   "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" wrote Solomon of old. Now comes that bittersweet time of year when Summer starts packing up all her precious gifts and loading them into the car: down come the volley ball nets, the beach umbrellas, and -please!- not the grill!
   Maybe it's that I was born in this changing of the seasons that I find it so hauntingly beautiful. "Bittersweet" I called it because this is a time of new beginnings as the kids go back to school as well as a time of all too abruptly ending outdoor family fun.  Earlier this year I composed a piece I called "Signs o' Spring". I might well have titled this commentary "Omens of Autumn", but we like to keep things positive!

   As Hillary Clinton once said, "SIGH!". Look around, and behold, are these shrubs showing a touch of blush in their leaves? The nights are dropping in earlier, staying later, and feeling cooler. The apples are ripening, the schoolbuses are back on the roads, and Halloween costumes fill the department stores. Soon we'll see the gravid preying mantises, some green, some brown, scouting out the perfect reed or stalk to deposit their egg cases. 

   Isn't it strange how we always watch for that first robin of Spring, yet never seem to notice that final robin of Summer take wing to sunnier climes? Whatever hopes and dreams and plans we had for the summer; a beach day, a road trip, a camp-out, a cook-out, that tag sale---if we haven't got 'em done, we ain't gonna....not until next year!

   Now comes the season of State Fairs with all their fun, food, and fervor! Yeah, that's the sweet part! Get the native corn and tomatoes while you can, for soon the only local produce will be apples, pumpkins, squash, and ....kale? Did I mention the Oyster Festival?

   Soon golden and bronze chrysanthemums will be adorning doorways and walkways; sunflowers as big as your head and taller than you will be sharing their fruit with the squirrels and blue jays.  Say good-bye to watermelons, s'mores, and hot dogs! Good-bye to tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops! Summer is ending!

   Yes, Labor Day weekend is upon us, the "unofficial" end of summer. (Astronomically we have until September 21st.) And speaking of the ending of things, one of the rites of the passing of the seasons from my childhood is now gone forever. I remember as a kid this weekend always meant the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon , which my Dad would put on Sunday night and watch straight through to the final total on the board. I can almost see ol' Jerry getting choked up as he tries to sing "As You Walk Through the Storm".  Well my Dad is gone and now Jerry Lewis is, too.

   But that's what life is: change. Nothing here is permanent. Like an Etch-a-Sketch drawing it all vanishes away into a whole new picture. The blues and greens of Summer shall give way to the gold, russett, and orange of Fall. One season moves on to another. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.

   Life is beautiful, and oddly enough, Summer's end is one of those things we love about life.

Oh, My Papa !

   Today, it's all about the Dads! Few people in your life can have a greater influence in your life, for good or for bad, than Father. With all due respect to the single Moms, (and, as DJT would say, "Nobody has more respect for single Moms than I do-nobody!") Dad fills a role in his children's formation no one else can. Dad can do things Mom can't do, and will do things Mom won't do! I mean, how many Moms do you see play-fighting with their kids?
   The bond between a father and son is different from that between a mother and son; and likewise Dad's relationship with his daughter is a whole other level from the connection she shares with Mom. Oftentimes the Father is the one to dispense correction and discipline; he provides leadership and support. He is the role model and Advisor; and good or bad, his kids are going to copy him. He leaves an imprint no one else can!
   My father, Arthur Henry Anderson II, was an imposing man: at one point in his life nearly 500 pounds! Strong, headstrong, funny and fun-loving, opinionated and passionate about the things in life he loved, he left his mark on each of us his twelve children. Dad loved fishing, gambling, card-playing, spectator sports, TV, his Big Band Era music, family, and of course, eating! He loved his dogs, too, especially his Boston Terrier Trixie.
 Not to take anything away from mothers, who are dear and special in their own way, I think Dads really give us a sense of identity, helping (in some cases hurting) our perceptions of who we are.  The very fact that our surnames come down from our fathers' families is an example of this. Ever wonder why the Bible introduces a character as "Joe, the son of Thisguy, the son of Thatguy"?  Dad is part of who we are: not merely half of our DNA, but so much of our personality, behavior, culture, traits and idiosyncracies are modeled after his!
   As surely as we wouldn't be here without him, we wouldn't be us without him.
   I am so blessed and so grateful to be a Dad to my two awesome stepchildren, Tracy & Aljeny Santana.

   Likewise, one of my regrets in life is that I wasn't there for my own daughter, Genny Thompson. 
   So here's to the Dads: not everyone has one, but everyone should! It ain't easy being a Dad, and yeah, we make lots of mistakes. For us there is no greater reward in this life than to see our children, who God has delivered into our care, grow up to be good, wise, strong, and happy.
   Life is beautiful, and having a Dad, and being a Dad, are two of the most wonderful things in life. I miss you, Dad. 

Nostalgia

   Remember the good old days? Who doesn't love to reminisce over one's past joys, triumphs, friendships, accomplishments, yes, even tragedies and sorrows?
   But were the good olde days really all that good? Didn't we have struggles, disappointments, heartbreaks, fears and failures? Or as Solomon wrote, "Say not thou, 'What is the cause that the former days were better than these?' For thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this."  As the song asks, "Could it be things were all so simple then, or has time re-written every line?"
   Maybe we were just more hopeful, less cynical back in the day? Maybe we just forget the ugly times, or simply ignore them....and focus on the good (which is the stated purpose of this blog!). Perhaps in many ways we are indeed better off now than then, but still somehow the "happy golden days of yore" always feel better to us.
   Maybe it's an illusion, a glitch in the human mind, but how often we look back longing for those days we once couldn't wait to pass! But what made the good olde days good? We were younger, stronger, full of hope for the future, doing what we could with what we had, and not even knowing what we didn't have.
    It seems to me that for any generation, "the good olde days" were whatever decade they spent their teens and twenties in. I remember how my Dad always used to boast about and idealize The Big Band Era.  So, the Great Depression and World War II were the good old days? And Mom always talked about her and her brother growing up on the farm with only their Grandpa to raise them. Must have been a rough life....but still GOOD!
   The product I build at work is given a serial number to each unit.....as I'm working I come across a serial number ending in 1979, and suddenly I'm back in High School! I wish I had a dollar for every time I've wished I had a TARDIS to take me back to the '70's!!! True, that decade had all kinds of ugly stuff going on historically and personally, but damn if I wouldn't jump at the chance to go back there!
 Seeing the movie Super 8 with the old Fotomat booth and other props form that bygone era takes me back to my childhood and youth! Weird! I love looking at old photo albums and yearbooks, hearing "our" music from back in the day, and, of course lamenting with others from my generation about how cheap everything was back then!
   In some ways, the old things were better. When I was a kid, there was no Internet, we had no cell phones;  Chuck E. Cheese was a big, fat rat, not a skinny little mouse; women looked like women and men looked like men; the boss handed you a check on payday; you brought that check to the bank and a human teller cashed it for you.

19 or 20?

   We all love to think about the old days, and tell the younger folk how much better it was then......It seems that 
the older I get, the further back in my life I look. It's like that warning/disclaimer on your sideview mirror telling you things are closer than they appear.  When we look back, we see things differently than we did when they were ahead of us.
It's human nature.
   Yes, it's an illusion, a warped view of reality.  And one day, years from now, these will be  "the good olde days".  I know that. We all do. Whatever. Nostalgia still is, and always will be, one of the things we love about life!

Seafood!

    What's the best thing about living on the coast? Fresh seafood! Now I'm no connoisseur, but how could one visit an island, bay, or harbor and not go for the local catch o' the day? It's criminal! Ya gotta have seafood! 
   Let's get through the semantics: I know trout, catfish, crawdads and the like aren't literally  food from the sea, but if it's aquatic and it's edible, I'm calling it seafood. This is my blog and I'm the king here, so as king I hereby decree a decree that henceforth and hereafter shall   hushpuppies be deemed and classified as seafood!  Glad we cleared that up!
    Secondly, I realize there be religious taboos against consuming crustaceans and mollusks and bivalves and stuff, so if you abstain from these in your devotion, you may wanna skip ahead a few paragraphs. I wouldn't want to tempt you to violate your conscience! (Bacon-wrapped scallops must be doubly sinful!)
   Some words about clam chowder:  You've got New England clam chowder,  and then there's Manhattan clam chowder.  One is white and creamy, the other brown and soupy. It's like the Yankees and the Red Sox:  either ya love the one and hate the other or else you hate the one and love the other; don't trust anyone who says they like 'em both.  What the hell is Rhode Island clam chowder? I dunno! Third base!  For me, on a cold, raw, yucky day, give me the New England Clam Chowder!  With those tiny crackers!

Working on the second of twin lobsters!

   My wife loves lobster. Wendy could chow down a whole lobster faster than Madison  from Splash!  We celebrated our first Valentine's Day at Westbrook Lobster in Wallingford, CT, and have been going there for great seafood ever since. Me, I'm a baked, stuffed lobster fan. Westbrook makes a wicked lobster quesadilla too! (Sometimes we visit Red Lobster just for those cheddar bay biscuits.)
   Years back when we stayed with my mother-in-law ("Mama'") Onieda, she took us on a trip across D.R. to the region of Samana. It was an all-day journey on the road over treacherous terrain, and by the time we got there, we were hungry! Wendy and I each ordered the fried fish. The waiter supposed the plate was too big for the little lady, and invited us back to the kitchen to behold just how big those fish were (about a forearm's length). He don't know my Wendy! Needless to say we both ordered- and completely devoured- those deep fried fish!
(My wife dared me to eat the eyes....have you ever tried them?)

Fish at Playa Ensenada,

   I recall years ago my sister Jodie and her husband Dave took me to their fav Italian restaurant. I ordered the Catch o' the Day, and the waitress was like, uh, there is no catch today. I have never returned to that establishment, which shall remain nameless!
   For our summer vacations, we occasionally rent a friend's beach house in Clinton, CT.  And Wendy is the queen of the grill! Jumbo shrimp, salmon: forget about it! I'm in heaven!
  Now I admit some seafood is kinda gross. Like fried soft-shell crab sandwiches, and raw oysters, which are all slimey and squiggly.  I remember my Dad used to eat shrimp cocktail, and sardines right out of the can. He and his dad and uncles used to go out into Long Island Sound for some flatfishin'.  (Flatfish are gross because they have both eyes on the same side of their face---creepy!)

Dinner on the beach in Jamaica

   A cool thing about seafood is the regional variety and specialties. If you head down Maryland way, you've gotta have them crabcakes; you journey Down East  to Maine and the lobstah is a must-have. You go down South and you can't miss the catfish!  Some stuff you can only get- or get done right- in just one place!
   I could talk about the health benefits of seafood, nutritious and delicious Omega-3 fatty acids, whatever! This blog is all about the emotional health benefits to your heart and soul! My wife loves seafood and I love to see her lovin' what she loves.  
   Life is beautiful and seafood, in all of its amazing forms, is definitely one of the things we love about life!

Windows

   Windows? No, not the brand-name computer Operating System, I mean, the clear part of your wall. Really, Matt, you're going to celebrate something so mundane as the window? This here's the thing: life is beautiful, and some of the most beautiful things about life are the ones we often overlook, the ones staring us right in the face. And the cliche' is true that says you gotta stop and smell the roses or you'll go postal.  We'll talk roses another day; right now if you'll give me three minutes of your time, I'd like to contemplate tempered plate glass!
   What prompted me to pen this message is a reno going on at the house down the street. The original architecture featured a big picture window in the Living Room, which the contractor inceremoniously tore out, and replaced with a standard off-the-shelf double-hung version. Several other windows were removed and their spaces boarded up. Maybe to make room for a giant flat-screen TV; to replace an actual window with a virtual one?
   I'm a light guy: I love sunlight, and I love daylight. As I type this, I luxuriate in the sunny splendor of our living room's bay windows, a happy home for Wendy's houseplants. To me, the more windows the better! Sure, I get that curtains and rods and stuff can be expensive, and energy efficiency may be reduced, blah,blah,blah, I don't care! I like windows, especially those of unique styles and shapes.

Our South-facing bays

   One of my cherished childhood memories is of a stained-glass window that lit our second floor stairwell. The warm sun shining through its colored panels shone red, blue, and yellow on my little hands and arms. If I ever build me a house, you'd better believe it's going to have a stained-glass window illuminating the hallway!
   I'm so happy the apartment we now dwell in has a little window over the kitchen sink. Yes, we still wash dishes by hand, and ya gotta love the view! At times I've lived in a home without a sink window, and I tried to fake it by hanging a mirror there instead. It doesn't work!
   Years ago I worked in a greenhouse---which is of course all window. Then 20 years back I started working in a cleanroom which of course has no windows! How did I survive but by heading outside on my breaks to see the sky and the trees and the grass! Some of the oils I work with are sensitive to flourescent light, so the company covered the bulbs with an orange film.  So that one little corner of my workplace always looked like sunset! It helped alleviate my windowlessness.

Caribbean style at Mama's house

   You all know I love to travel: and when I fly, give me the window seat every time! Have you ever seen a thunderstorm from above the clouds?  And I love to watch the coastline give way to the ocean, then again to see the city lights as we near our destination.
   Let me say here that a window is not merely a physical portal between interior and exterior, but can be a mental passway as well. For who hasn't sat by their window on a rainy day, watching the storm shower the streets, and drifted off to daydreaming? Who hasn't lain in bed on a day off, listening to the birds chirping "every little thing is going to be all right!" ? Or who hasn't watched the snow falling by moonlight and hoped there'd be no school the next day? Who hasn't drawn tiny icons with their fingers on the foggy schoolbus window?
   I remember as a child sitting at the breakfast table with my Mom, staring out the kitchen window at the tired old apple tree, while the grackels hopped about, looking as creepy as Poe's raven. She would say grace with this little prayer: Thank You for the food we eat, thank You for the world so sweet. Thank You for the birds that sing, thank You, Lord, for everything.

   Maybe that simple, childish prayer is the reason I appreciate simple, mundane things like windows.

 
   

Ah, the Fire!

   The old brown kerosene stove in our Dining Room warmed my childhood home in Seymour, Ct.  I used to just sit there and watch the flames, blue and orange, flickering and dancing in their assigned spots. Campfires, bonfires, firepits, fireplaces, the fire has always been a gathering place for family and friends old & new. Is it the warmth, the ambience, or maybe people just look better in that warm, amber light?

   I'd rather gather around a fire than a TV set anyday. The fun and comfort of the fire is one of those things that are simply the way things ought to be! I'm a low-tech guy at heart, and I love simple things. The song isn't about chestnuts roasting in a microwave oven! (Though most people would probably rather be roasting up marshmallows and stacking up S'mores.) A hot dog or a brat cooked over the open flame is a delicacy to be savored!
   I've written before about the smell of hickory smoke wafting its way from the fire. And how come steaks and burgers smell so much better cooking out on the grill? Breakfast cooked on the campfire: sublime.
   Fires are just made for friendship! At the campground on Burton Island in Vermont,  the park rangers would light a huge bonfire on the shores of Lake Champlain on a Saturday night, as local musicians would ply their instruments in old favorites and folk songs. A fire brings people together.
   I'm no pyromaniac or arsonist. I don't worship fire. But from Moses and the Burning Bush to the disciples in the Upper Room, fire is a Biblical metaphor for the presence of God.  Rapid oxidation. Combustion.  Flame. Fire.

   It's one of those things we love about life. Light one today!

KIDS!

   Maybe it's because my wife and I are just a few years away from becoming Empty Nesters,  and several more beyond that from becoming Grandparents. I asked Wendy if she missed having little kids in the house, and she denied it.  But I don't believe her!

   Kids are special. They are amazing, silly, surprising, honest, loving, incredible little people. Now at my age, I call anyone under 40 a "kid", but for the purpose of this discussion, I'm referring to those mini- human beings who have already started walking and talking, but haven't yet started smoking nor drinking nor making out.  So I'm talking about children from just under four to just over twelve years old.
   Life is beautiful, and it's more beautiful with kids. You can't get more basic than that; kids are our future- they're why we do what we do! But they are also fleeting, temporary. As my wife says, "Those days don't come back". It may be a cliche' to say "They grow up so fast", but Damn! Don't blink your eyes! Childhood is the morning of life, the springtime of life.

   Must say I miss those days of watching the news early for school cancellations so I could let the kids sleep in. I miss helping our son with his homework. I miss Family night at Ben Franklin Elementary. And Book Fairs. Chuck E. Cheese and Coco Key. (Oddly, I don't miss SpongeBob Squarepants.)
   What's cool about kids is that everything is new to them, everything's a discovery, everything's exciting. I recall when Wendy and I were watching her cousin's son. I taught him how to flip a coin off his thumb. He was so thrilled! Stuff that is nothing to us is so wondrous to them. When did we lose that sense of wonder? Kids don't have to "think outside the box", because they don't have a box yet.  We haven't built that box in their heads  yet.

   To kids, nothing is impossible. They'll believe whatever we tell them because their minds aren't cluttered with "facts".  (Is it any wonder Christ taught that unless you receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, you ain't getting in?) However, they can be hindered by fears. And this is where a strong, dedicated, caring parent or grandparent comes in.
   Kids have weaknesses.  And they need our encouragement. Children are impressionable, and we must be careful what we impress upon them.  Play, pretending, and imagination are how they sort out their world, not with logic, reason, and research.
   Why? Why ? Why do  they always ask why? Do they really want an explanation, or they they just challenging our version of reality? How long until we run out of "because" 's?

      Fun. Kids love having fun. And they can have fun doing something as simple as blowing a soap bubble. Over and over and over.  And doesn't candy & stuff taste better when we're kids? I've heard we actually have more taste buds in our early years....the sugary ones, anyway. And isn't it cool to be so small you could wear one of those flower-shaped butter cookies on your little finger? (Yeah, tell me you never did that!)
   I'm rambling, but, wow, birthday parties, story-books, sleep-overs, Christmas presents (except clothes), school fund-raisers, cartoons, summer vacation,  back-to-school time, camping, so on & so on, all the wonderful times we spend with our kids. What would life be like without kids? NOTHING! There wouldn't be any life, once all us adults passed away!

   Children are a treasure. They make us happy, make us proud, make us sad, get us mad sometimes, and cast reflections of us. Sometimes we look at how they've developed and grown, and just ask ourselves, "what did I do right?"
    Kids aren't merely one of the things we love about life; they are our lives. 

Work?

   Going totally counter-intuitive here today. Isn't work something we all hate? Isn't work like a punishment? Didn't God tell Adam, "That's it, Buddy: no more free ride! From now on, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." ? (But don't be too mad at God; He later gave us The Weekend!) Work sucks, right?
   Of course, there are disagreeable aspects to any job. But jobs have to be done! And anyone who's ever been unemployed knows that working is a right and a privilege- may I say a blessing?  When payday comes around and you get that big, fat check (or that weeny little check), ain't it grand? And renumeration isn't the only positive about work. There are other benefits besides benefits!
   Learning new skills and understanding of how things are done is huge! To me, the sense of accomplishment when the Boss gives me an unreasonable amount of work to do in an unreasonable amount of time- and somehow I get it done - is very rewarding and brings a great personal satisfaction.  I love it when I see a huge pile of work go down, down, down and we finish it- sometimes ahead of schedule!
   When you're in middle management, and the people above you are telling you "This gotta get done" and the people below are telling you, "This can't be done" ,  and somehow you resolve it- man, you feel like the hero! It's a feeling I like!
   When you go to work, you meet new people, make new friends. Some really interesting characters! Yeah, there are jerks at work too; but guess what? At quittin' time you punch out, and leave them behind!  And the folks you work with can be a positive influence and encouragement in your life as well.
   My first job as a teenager was working in my brother Art's flea market stand in New Haven, CT. We sold fruits & vegetables he bought from a wholesaler. Not much money, but great experience! Since then, I've worked in a greenhouse or two, a screw machine shop (or two), a demolition crew, a homeless shelter, an eyeglass store, and finally where I am now with an aerospace company,  building gyroscopes. And my wife wonders why my fingers are all twisted and distorted? I have workin' man's hands! Gnarley, Dude!

AIS Holiday Party

   So many other things about work are cool: the commute, the camaraderie, the situations; bonuses, raises, promotions; shop picnics and Christmas parties, fund-raisers and community service opportunities; they are all the stuff we love about work!  Being the person people depend on and go to when there's a problem gives a sense of fulfillment in life.
   We were made to work. Food's not going to just walk up and say, "Here I am, eat me!" We earn it. And being "the Breadwinner", or provider for our families,  is another dignity work gives us. And any job you do, big or small, contributes to society as a whole. So work isn't just about what you get, but also about what you give. Your talents, knowledge, experience, skill, creativity, and intelligence are put to use not just for yourself, your familiy, your boss, or your customers, but for all of us.

CNA's rock!

    "In all labor there is profit" wrote Solomon.  And that profit isn't only financial. I've worked for  global mega-corporations, and I've also worked for small Mom & Pop enterprises.  Some places you feel like you're just a number, while in others you're part of a family.  Their success is your success.
   Bottom line, it's this amazing paradox that even though sometimes work is one of the things we hate about life, it's also one of the things we love about life.
 
 

TRAVEL!

  The journey. The adventure; the discovery. The escape! The experience.  You know, there's just something about putting feet on your dreams and getting out there! We all have places we long to see, to visit, to explore....what could be more rewarding than going there? Or what could be more disappointing than never going?
   I love travel. Everything about it, the whole deal. From dreaming, to researching, to planning,  to booking, to packing, to boarding...and ultimately to  arriving, there's nuthin' about travel I don't love.  The sights, the landmarks, the food, the newness, the wonder of being in a place outside the everyday routine bring such a lasting joy to the soul!
   Now people travel for all sorts of reasons: for work, business matters, family matters---sometimes of necessity, at others times by choice.  It's a great thing!  I don't mind telling you, I genuinely pity those who never venture more than 25 miles beyond their home environs! There's a whole wide world out there: how can anyone be content with seeing less than 1% of it their entire lives?

Jamaica, no problem!

   Let me say up front I don't do as much travelling as I'd like!  Thus far, I've been to about 22 of the Fifty States. I have to qualify that by saying that a few states we just passed through on our way to other states, maybe stopped for gas or lunch, but didn't actually stay and do anything.  So they kinda don't count! But I've actually gone places and done things in all the New England states, as well as New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arkansas.
   Internationally, I've been to Canada, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Rumania, Sweden, and briefly, Austria.  I've been above the Arctic Circle in the lovely little city of Kiruna, and below the Tropic of Cancer in the Caribbean. I've yet to cross the Equator! O, when will I reach the Pacific???

Las Terrenas, D.R.

   Why go to these places? I went to Sweden to visit the land of my Anderson ancestors. I travelled to Arkansas to meet my Mother's side of the family, and to learn a little about her country way of life. Romania was a church Missions trip.(Now I can proudly say I've been to Transylvania!)  My wife always wanted to go to Jamaica, so we chose that for our honeymoon destination.  I had always wanted to see Cape Hatteras Lighthouse; another member of my family had always wanted to see Kittyhawk.  So one summer while visiting my sister in Virginia, Laura and I took the trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks, and crossed those dreams off our bucket lists.
   Other places I'm yearnin' to go are: San Francisco, Hawaii, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific Northwest in this country; and  Ireland, Cuba, Morocco, and Tahiti outside the U.S.
   So what I'm saying to you is: if there is somewhere you've always wanted to go, don't just talk about it, do it! Make it happen ! Save up for it, look for deals, connect with others who've always wanted to go there too and make it a trip! You can find inexpensive places to stay if you're willing to be a tad adventurous, and book outside the ALL-INCLUSIVE HOTEL.
   And remember what Matt says, "It's not an adventure if there are no risks!"  One of the great things about travel is the challenge it brings (like trying to figure out how to use the ATM in another country!) and the growth it inspires in you. It causes you to dig down deep inside yourself and find strength and resolve you never knew you had! Sometimes it will test your very faith!

The Brothers in Vermont

   What about the expenses? To me, the memories, the pictures, the stories, and the experiences (including the surprises) are all worth far, far more than whatever sum you paid to get there and back! You come back a different person! Who can put a price tag on that?
   Whether by plane, or train, bus, boat, or car, get out there!  'Cuz there are things you just can't see or do in your own little backyard!  I think of some of the places I've been--- Bar Harbor, Montego Bay, Lake Champlain, Vienna, Boston, Gotland Island, Times Square,  the Samana Penninsula, all so different, so unique....so unlike anything around here! I would have missed so much by staying in my own familiar settings.
   Ok, travel ain't cheap; it's not always easy. But it does something to you, something good. I know not all people love it. But for me & my family, travel is definitely one of the things we love aobut life!
 

Signs o' Spring

   Everybody talks about the first robin  (Turdus migratorius) of Spring, and indeed it is a sight we all look forward to. But there be many other harbingers of the season, bringing the promise of warmer weather and good times outdoors.  Now let me say this about the groundhog: his legendary forcasting skills are basically the stuff of a hyped-up media event and has nothing at all to do with the arrival of Spring. You all know his handlers drag the marmot out of his den each February 2nd to determine whether or no he sees his shadow. With all those spotlights and cameras in his face, how could he see anything?
   Nevertheless, soon after that, his cousins the 'Possum and Skunk creep forth from their winter sleep to become roadkill on our highways and byways. That unmistakeably pungent odor of dead skunk is a sure sign Spring is on its way!

   A bit more pleasant herald of the coming season is the ever-so-slowly inching up of the sunset past 5:00 pm, on its way toward 5:30, 5:45, then...... Maybe one of my favorite days of the year: Daylight Savings Time ends!!! Dark afternoons and evenings are over! Yay! I don't care about some sleepy-eyed marmot seeing his shadow, I wannna see MY shadow after dinner!

   How I love to see the snowbanks and ice-sheets recede little by little as they revert to their proper form of liquid water! Revealing all those fall leaves and debris from broken branches, as well as the regular garbage no one has picked up since October, wait, is that GREEN  I see? Fresh growth of moss and weeds?
   And look! The neighbor is taking down his Christmas decorations! Woo-Hoo!  Then as the ground waxes warmer and softer,  do I detect the first few sprouts of those bulbs I planted last fall? YES!! Soon we'll be treated to a show of purple, yellow, white, and blue as the crocus come into bloom.

    Now Readers, I do realize that technically speaking,  St. Patrick's Day is actually the final winter holiday.  Technically schmechnically, this is my blog and I say St. Patrick's is the first Spring holiday! Why do ya think they call the soap "Irish Spring"?  Whatever, I don't care, I just know that when I see shamrocks and green bowler derbies everywhere, Spring is almost here! Erin go Bragh! And I don't need some fancy DNA test to tell me I've a wee bit o' Irish blood runnin' through me veins!
   Anyway, those of you who know me are aware that my favorite seasons are Summer #1, Spring #2, Autumn #3, and Winter dead last at #4.  So it is with joy I behold the demise of that dark, cold, snowy, icy, carb-loaded, weight-gaining, boot-wearing, snow-shovelling, pot-hole  hitting season called Winter. Me being a New Englander of Scandinavian descent, you might suppose I would love the winter. And you might need a slap.
   No, this time of year when the sap starts flowing again and the maple trees get tapped for their precious treasure is a welcome relief to my weary eyes and soul. Enough white and grey awready, I wanna see blue skies and green grass! Do ye think I like taking cough syrup and carryinig tissues around?

Crocus!

   One of my fondest memories as a kid was of my old elementary school, Center-Annex in Seymour, Ct.  From my first-grade classroom, we could see out front where a forlorn Chinese cherry tree would blossom to life in a flurry of pale pink petals bursting out among the silvery-black branches. Our Art Teacher even had us portray the blessed event in construction paper.
   Good-bye, Winter! And good riddance! See ya next year!

   The signs o' Spring are everywhere now, and they're some of the things we love about life.
   

Coming Home

   You walk up the steps, turn the key, open the door and march into your sanctuary, tossing your keys and the mail non-chalantly onto the table, you peel off your coat, sit down, and breathe a deep sigh of relief as your little friend dog or cat ambles up to meet you: you are home!
   Probably my favorite part of the day is my drive home from work! Leaving all the ado of work behind, and getting back to that special place where I belong!  So what's the difference between going home and coming home? Well, you are "going home" even if you haven't even left yet: just having the opportunity and making the choice to do so is "going home". You have to be at least halfway there before you're coming home...
   Whether you're coming back from work, a trip, visiting relatives or friends, or just running errands, what could be better than that moment that you're in for the night? When you can relax and just be you! A place to refresh and revive, a place as unique as you are. They say home is where the heart is, but really home is the place you build around your heart.
   I recall years ago, when I was working the night shift and got home around midnight. That little apartment I rented in Naugatuck had some type of night-blooming flowering vine growing on the trellis beside the porch. That delicate fragrance welcomed me home each night!
   Even if you've had the vacation of your life, and spent the last few weeks in wonderful surroundings  with amazing people, is there anyplace like your own bed? Wendy and I honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamaica and were sad to leave that last day. But still, when that plane touches down on the tarmac, and you find your car and jump back on the road home, what else matters?
   You can dine on the finest, most sumptous meals the world has to offer in the classiest restaurants, but hey, a cup of coffee or a bowl of ice cream in your own kitchen is a whole other level of comfort! "Homeward bound: I wish I was." "Take me home, Country Road" "I feel so broke up, I wanna go home." It's the primordial, archetypal cry of the human soul.  Wheresoever we journey in this world, near or far, coming home is the best part of the trip!!!
   Travelling back into Connecticut from New York City and points south, we head up the Merritt Parkway  across the Housatonic in Stratford....soon appears the Heroes' Tunnel, letting us know we're almost home.  Forget all the rest of the drive behind us, when we pass through that tunnel, we are in our own backyard, and mere minutes from home.
    Home! Drag all the bags in from the car, and drop them in the hall; we'll unpack them another time. Right now we're home! Kick off your shoes and do whatever else ya gotta do, we're home where we do what we want to do! If we want to crash on the bed and zonk out for the next five hours, who cares? We're home!
   What better feeling is there?
   It doesn't matter what problems, issues, bills, or  business await us there, home is home.
   Home is where we grow, where we live, where we heal, where we dream.
   Doesn't matter if it's a house, apartment, condo or whatever: it's home. 
   And of all the things we love about life, I love coming home the best.

Milestones

   On our journey through life we celebrate many varied milestones along the way. Some we can't wait to attain, some we can't believe we've reached; others come upon us inevitably despite our hopes and wishes! Some are natural, part of the physical, mental, and emotional maturation process; others are cultural and societal rites of passage.
   What little toddler, for example, can't wait for his or her first trip on the big, yellow school bus? Of course, once they reach the kindergarten room, they cry and bawl for Mommy and home!  What child doesn't dream of one day being a big kid, and carrying books to school like his teen-aged siblings?
    I remember in my middle school years (formerly known as "Junior High") all the Catholic kids buzzing about this mysterious passage of Confirmation. Being a Protestant, I had no clue what was happening to my classmates.  The one Jewish kid I knew, of course, had his Bar Mitzveh.  So the sole middle school initiation I endured was locating the nerd table in the cafeteria. Oh, and having to bring for Gym  Class that article of Personal Protective Equipment  known colloquially as the Jock Strap. 
   High school brings a few more milestones. Latina girls and their families celebrate their fifteenth birthday in a Quincinera, while in other homes they treat their daughters like a princess on her Sweet Sixteen.  Senior Prom is another big rite of passage.  I missed mine, being an introvert and socially ignorant. The excuse I give now is that I couldn't go because Wendy was just in second grade at the time! Senior Week is probably one of the best, most care-free weeks of your life....and one you'll never have again. Graduation... what can we say... the biggest rite of passage for every teen-ager, introducing you to that foreboding place called "The REAL WORLD"  (sinister laughter).
   Another great rite of passage comes with getting your driver's license.  But as the folkhero Peter Parker famously noted, "With great power there must also come...great responsibility".    Yeah, responsibility.
   Seems like each of these milestones and passages keeps heaping more and more of that resposibility stuff on us!
      I recently had the opportunity and privilege of attending my son's graduation from Boot Camp at Parris Island. Now a military graduation is not at all like an academic one with all its speeches, but instead demonstrates discipline with precision, synchronised movements.

    Another big milestone in your life is getting your first own place. This is such a huge life event I'm going to devote an entire article to it.  Leaving Mom & Dad's and setting up your own home is like what all these other things were leading up to. That, and, of course marriage.  When you go from being me to being us. 

   Your Wedding Day  is a huge milestone and rite of passage, worthy of all the pomp & ceremony that go along with it.  Remember Senior Week? Your Honeymoon is sorta like that, only way better!

    A milestone a lot of people would like to avoid (but really can't) is that 30th birthday.  It's not so much thirty they dread as what comes after. But all you twentysomethings out there, thirty ain't so bad. From where I stand it looks pretty darn good! Forty, and Fifty, ya just kind of take in stride, knowing you can't stem the flow of time. 

   The birth of your first child is also a major milestone, again putting you into a whole new world. But wait, there's more: one day you become a grandparent, and your identity and role changes again.

    Life milestones after that begin to get suckier, like the passing of your parents.  Retirement, with all its pluses and minuses. Then one day, the death of your spouse, and widowhood. Finally, the culmination of all these things, and your body just stops doing things it's supposed to do.....and you see your day is coming.

"...we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years  are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their stength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

   So wrote Moses in the 90th Psalm.

   Inevitably comes that final waymark, when your mortal remains are all dressed up in that wooden box for all your family and friends to come and view one last time. And somewhere in that funeral parlor may be a collage of photos marking those many milestones you've met and mastered along your way.  Life is beautiful, from conception to death.

   And milestones are another of the things I love about life.