Celebrating a father’s birthday can bring out many emotions and thoughts, especially for adult children. Most of us get to experience our father for a long period of our lives, from being Daddy’s little one through to Dad seeming somehow smaller. For each of us, those days in between say a lot about how both… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Past present future
We are all the same size inside
Humans come in all sizes, shapes and styles, and just when you think you’ve seen every possibility you see someone who looks different yet again. I think we all find people to be interesting — they are variations on ourselves and the world-wide human community. Height is one of the greatest sources of differences with… Continue Reading
Rings around the rosey
Every child fortunate enough to learn about our solar system has been amazed by the rings of Saturn. Dusty rings encircling a planet is a strangeness exactly out of this world — very alien, and very isolated. Recent photographs of Saturn and its rings were taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, and published by The Smithsonian… Continue Reading
Exercising has great benefits
I was going to title this article “Exercise is great” but many people haven’t yet found a type of exercise they like. What is without doubt is that exercising has great benefits for each of us. It was only two or three generations ago that most of our families were working on farms, getting their… Continue Reading
Air is thick but sensitive
One of the biggest things we never see is all around us — the air. We know it’s there but we don’t think about it much unless it smells wonderful (like dinner) or smells terrible (like when a farmer is spreading manure on his fields). While air usually looks clear it is much more than… Continue Reading
Poem about children growing up and leaving home
Anyone who has teenagers knows the sadness of their leaving to start their own home. For parents with children the advice is clear: play with your kids; spend time doing things together — today! This is a poem I wrote for my son, whom I love dearly. Cleaning the Workshop The time has come to… Continue Reading
Trees only get one channel
When we get out into nature one thing becomes clear: nature is a fantastic experience, in all its variations. Nature is reality TV in its purest form. A friend and I went walking yesterday in a hill-top park that holds our city’s water supply, suitably called Reservoir Park. It is an inspiring combination of urban… Continue Reading
Maybe Smarties maybe balloons
Things that look alike can turn out to be very different as we get closer to them, and get to know them. I have always been a fan of Smarties, the colorful candy-coated chocolate treats (Wikipedia). Round but also flat, small but easy to grab — they are fun to eat and easy to share. … Continue Reading
Growing upward in the autumn
Each autumn a diaspora of children, young and getting older, spreads into schools and communities across the nation. As the parent of a university-aged daughter, I hold dearly my role in helping her grow from a teen to an adult. Yesterday my wife and I helped our daughter move into her new home, using two… Continue Reading
Cookies make us kids again
There is one thing that can bring people of all ages and cultures to a shared smile: cookies. Our local deli-restaurant is a gathering place on Sundays, where family and friends get together. Everyone gets to order their own meal from the various counters so we tend to grab our trays and spread out when… Continue Reading