The Day After

'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house, all the creatures were stirring, especially the mouse!  The stockings were torn down and the mantle was bare, the hopes were all valid, for surely, someone had been there.

     The children were still nestled all snug in their beds, while memories from yesterday danced in their heads.

     I read the paper while the wife sipped some coffee, and gently rubbed the ears of her new pet doggy.

     When out on the porch there arose an odd noise

I sprang from my chair, but with style & poise (and then some).  I still have a reputation to keep, around the office and with the boys.  The dog raised an ear and Ma turned her head, as I opened the door to our old neighbor, Fred!

     He had an older brother just down the way who was sick.  The neighborhood knew him by the first name of Nick.  He was a friendly old man with a beard white as snow, and normally goes hunting with an arrow and bow.  Last year he took our boys out to the field, taught them shooting, and tracking, got hurt, but has since healed.

     "Good morning there, Fred!  What may I do for you today," I asked with a smile moving the paper out of the way.

     "Not a thing, yet this morning" said Fred with a grin as he brushed some snow off his chinny-chin-chin.

     "Can I offer you some coffee, just roasted last week?"

     "I regretfully decline, dear friend, for it is not coffee that I seek.  I've had this stirring in my spirit all this month and this year, a buzz far beyond the feeling after liquor or beer.  I've noticed of late, you've not been quite yourself; why normally you resemble a jolly, old elf.  Your socks don't match, and your hair is a mess.  I've even seen you get the paper in a dress!"

     "Now, calm down there, Fred," I replied with a smile.  "I've not worn these here socks in quite a while.  They were a gift from my grandmother who has since passed, and I've worn them for years, that I mention 'cuz you asked.  That was not a dress you saw me wear the other day, but a kimono from Japan made especially by Teipay.

     I paused for a moment from our conversational talk, and looked beyond Fred to a clean sidewalk.  There was snow on the roof, and the road, and the trees, but on the walk I saw none as Fred shivered in the breeze.  He had shoveled the snow on this cold winter's day.  I was dumbfounded, speechless...what could I say?   And here is the odd thing, Fred is older than I.  You can tell by the width and the length of his tie.

     "Fred, won't you come in, and warm up for a while?"

     "Sorry to disappoint," donning his face with a smile.  "There is too much to do, and so many sidewalks to plow." he said while putting his gloves back on, and wiping fresh snow from his brow.       It made me stop and think of how I am often a jerk, Fred was a true servant, and it showed in his work.  He puts others before himself.  That's his motto for life, it brought a tear to my eye as I peered over at my wife.  It made me realize that I had not been the man I should be, but I could do better, and be better, with my wife right beside me.  Treating her and others more better than I, would be my new goal, I could do more than just try.

     Normally about this time we would be tearing down the decor, pulling the storage bins out, and paper up from the floor.  I realize now, that perhaps I had made a mistake, 

     "Can we keep them up, all the decor, for just one more day?  The tinsel of popcorn and all the ornaments we made? The tree? The snowmen, the lights and the cards?"  They were from our family and friends with regards.

     Can we take a lesson from Fred and his heart for serving others, putting each-other first and others first with each other.  Like evil Gru from Despicable me with his banana-eating minions, but then again...that's just my humble opinion.

Autumn

It’s definitely that time again.  That season for pumpkin-spice lattes with extra foam and a dash or two of cinnamon has finally returned.  It's that time for brisk evening walks with the family atop crunching leaves beneath your feet and skies peppered with kites, Friday Night Lights, and late evening bonfires with a hint of cherry wood in the air and the perfect coals for roasting a Hebrew National or two two chased with slightly toasted soft puffs of collected sugar represented gleefully in Ghostbusters by a jolly white stay-puft giant atop a melted chocolate square and as our young friend from the sandlot might say, "placed upon the graham".  We have but only a few weeks remaining to enjoy the sharply manicured lawn in the hammock with the family dog at our side and our beloved in our arms while the kiddos race through the piled leaves towering high in a heap of laughter and wonder and all the while, Grandma labors away with love the beautiful process of canning the garden salsa grown just a few feet away from the hammock;  time for Buffalo Trace and vinyl and a vintage Rocky Patel with in the study accompanied by a round table discussion of the philosophy of time travel with style and then some in a DeLorean designed by a crazy, wild-eyed scientist, while layering a mesh of threads colored in rust, brown and paisley button down wrapped with a crisp bow tie and a quarter zip underneath a chalk stripe notch lapel jacket with a contrasting pocket square and a bright lapel pin. 

It’s time to go sockless with a pair of well-worn, horse-buckle Allen Edmonds and your choice of torn denim while she steals your favorite Saturday sweater for date night to your restaurant after a another memorable day with the family to the apple orchard for a pumpkin hunt, caramel popcorn, and candy apples .  It is the perfect time of year for the feel of a leather bound book in your hand while turning the silk pages one by one while relaxing in an adriondack chair with a fresh cup of Dean & Delucca on the stand nearby atop a crisp green lawn with the Olde English Sheepdog a few paces away soaking in the mid afternoon sun and a choir of birds lift their song in ambience.

    The air circling the neighborhoods become thick with the echo of families singing campfire songs around a fiery orange glow and small stripes of smoke can be seen from the drive-in movie theater as you await the double feature accompanied by a large cooler filled with goodies and a brand new frisbee.

    This is the very time of year when you can roll the window down and feel the cool breeze against your face traveling down the highway with the warmth of the engine air on your feet and Phil Collins on the stereo.

    It is absolutely that time once again to warm up, cool down, chill out, kick back, soup up, gear up, relax, chillax, take 5, take a break, take a breather and enjoy for before too long we will ask one another in the month of December, a little more than a month away, "where has the year gone, and when will summer arrive," but then again...that's just my humble opinion.

Speeding Tickets for All

We were on our way back from a visit with Joyce's folks this past weekend. They all get together a couple of times out of the year and we are either at the pool in the summertime with fruit and fried goodies or at a hall somewhere celebrating Christmas with...fruit and fried goodies. It was a perfect day for a drive as I recall. The sun was shining overhead with a slight breeze making it a 75 degree afternoon for the ride home. She was resting her eyes while I was surveying the countryside with the moonroof open, and the windows slightly cracked, and the Boston Acoustics pumping some 80's into a positively smooth atmosphere. I am so incredibly jealous of her sound system that mere words do not do it justice. 

Those kinds of moments don't come everyday, so when they do, much like I would imagine you do...I soak them up with style and then some. I was in a slight haze of bliss when I passed by a church with a sign which read, "Summer needs a speeding ticket". It caught me off guard at first, and then it hit me. We had just begun August. Somehow we were beyond the middle of the year of 2021. Can someone please tell me where the past 7 months went? I checked the glovebox and under the seat...which I imagine is where nearly everyone looks when they lost their sunglasses, keys, wallet, cheetos, etc. Where did summer go? It was here last time I looked. 

If you missed it, Angola, IN just went through a humorous Sign War amidst retailers and restaurants which was most amusing to watch on a day-by-day basis. I did not, however, see anyone post a sign about summer, that was...until now. And by now...it was too late. Normally, by this point I had consumed my weight in watermelons, swam my age in hours at the pool, and caught a sunset or two with my bride. Where did summer go? I for one, couldn't agree more with that sign. Summer should get a speeding ticket. And for that matter so should your first date with that special someone. Those tend to go a little too fast, do they not? And your wedding day deserves a speeding ticket as well; all that planning, and scheduling, and phone calls, and meetings, and tailoring, and food, and dresses, and parties, and friends, and memories, and within a matter of hours the wedding day is over, the vows have been shared and witnessed and the marriage has begun. A speeding ticket should also be administered to the honeymoon.  All the dreaming and planning, and traveling, and selfies, but before you know it you have returned from your travels and real life begins. I’ll raise a glass to speeding tickets for vacations, And longer weekends, and late nights with friends, and early mornings with my wife sipping coffee and listening to Norah Jones while watching the sunrise. More speeding tickets and penalties for birthday breakfast with your 16-year-old, date night with your daughter, and a midnight basketball game with your son. They should certainly cut a speeding ticket for that special tee time with your young daughter, that construction time with your boys building the lego battleships and heading into lego war. There should definitely be a speeding ticket for your anniversary celebration in Jamaica, for puzzle time during Christmas with the grandparents, opening gifts with your children on Christmas morning, for the fireworks show during your July 4th celebration, and quite frankly speeding tickets for the growth of your children; for time on the lake fishing with grandpa, and for going to the movies with dad. I think there should be speeding tickets for the time spent with grandma learning how to make her famous Ginger Crinkles; for Sunday afternoons getting ice cream, and for the last few moments with your parents on their bed surrounded by family. There should definitely be a speeding ticket for that. And while we're at it, let's write speeding tickets for those last few moments with man's best friend before he must be put down due to cancer, or another illness, or perhaps just age. A ticket should be written for the time we have with our son or daughter before we drop them off at college on their first day, for that time spent with the fellas before they go off to basic to protect our country, and for that last Sunset before we say good night. Yup, when it comes to those kinds of things, in my world, and I know I don't speak for everyone, I say let's write some speeding tickets and slow a few things down, but then again...that's just my humble opinion.