The tall grass parted and silently, I stepped through. Wild-eyed, connected with my surroundings, connected with my trusted weapon, and connected with my quarry. That connection was destined to break. One, and only one, of us were going to survive the night. The hunt had gone on far too long, too many times I had been eluded by my prey. It’s eminent death saddened me slightly. I could scarcely remember the last time I had met such a wily opponent….
I grunted in frustration. The small red track that drops the marble into the bathtub wasn’t snapping nicely into place. I nearly had it in when the rubberband powered stop sign struck the boot, which kicked the bucket that dumped the marble onto the crooked stairs. “Hey! Stop that.” I told her. She reached out and grabbed the marble before it reached the long red track. I went on, “Patience! Seriously!! Let’s finish getting this whole thing set up, then…
Annie and I recently watched a TV program, the episode had something to do with Build-a-Bear, you know the place. You can get your own customized teddy bear assembled and accessorized. As the episode wrapped, Annie and I had a chuckle about that time I took Reggie to Build-a-Bear. “When did that go down?” She asked. “Hmm. Winter, I think. We were in a mall, so the lockdown had not yet happened.” “The Before Time.” She said, dramatically. “Nice one!…
Well, happy Lockdown! We’re now on day…uhm. Who really gives a crap anymore? I’m not even certain what day of the week it is. This lockdown has been immensely frustrating. The frustrations include income, homeschooling (made easier by dedicated and adaptable teachers) and general socialization. The girls are sick of each other, they are sick of us, and frankly, we can use a break from them too. I can elaborate, but we know there are others who are having a…
“Daddy? Why do your fingernails look so…”? “Misshapen and ugly?” I smiled, finishing what they were trying to say. “Yeah.” “First, it’s really just two of them. But anyway, I have a theory,” I replied, noting the fat bumps on my pointer and middle fingers, “Nail bed trauma!” “What’s that?” “Trauma is another word for something nasty that happens to someone…or something.” “What happened?” “My hand was sucked into a machine.” “Get out!” replied Regina. “Are you making this up?”…
Back in 2005, Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chandra Bell self-published a book called The Elf on the Shelf. For anyone who does not know this tradition, the book comes with a plush Elf. This elf sits on a shelf and “observes” the children of the household and brings a report to Santa every night. The elf returns in the morning and can be found in a new place every day. What this means for parents is that…
“Mama? What’s a swear?” I was driving when Regina asked that question, I looked over at Annie and smiled. Annie smiled back, and carefully framed her words before answering, “Well Sweetie. A swear can be a couple of things. It can be a bad word, a grown-up word, a word you should not say. Or it can be a promise. Like swear on a stack of Bibles; or swearing your Love to another.” “Hmm.” This was followed by silence. Annie…
A few weeks ago: I put on my watch and looked at the time, “Holy crap! Girls! We gotta go! Grab your boots! Lyd? Zip up your backpack! Wait on that. Is your lunch in there? No? Go grab it Sweetie! It’s go time!” My wife and daughters stared at me with confused looks on their faces. “Hun?” Annie asked, “The girls have maybe another forty minutes before they need to leave for school. Chill out.” I stammered. I looked…
There is a movie I have been struggling to watch for a while now, 15:17 to Paris. It’s about a trio of young American Servicemen who, despite being off the clock, run straight into danger and subdue an attempted terrorist attack. Unfortunately it is looking like one of those “cursed movies” for me. Cursed in that I do not think I will ever see this movie from beginning to end. Either I fall asleep (not from the movie but rather…
The Dad parted the blinds and looked down from his second story bedroom, “It must have snowed again overnight.” He thought, frowning, “More shoveling.” He allowed the blind to drop back into place, but it didn’t drop enough. There was a sliver of sunlight still shooting into the room. His wife grumbled, rolled over and pulled the bedsheets up tighter. She was not feeling well that day. It was January first and despite having only one glass of wine at…