Regular Life

Ben likes to draw, and lately he’s been going through construction paper so fast that I’m expecting a visit from Treehugger.com. More and more these days, we come pretty close when guessing what he has drawn. Almost every time, his explanation of the scene makes sense in relation to the lines and [...]

I found a chair near Discount Tire’s showroom windows and sat down. My wife had blown out a tire on the minivan again, and instead of one of those pluggable holes you always hear about, she had ripped a sidewall gash big enough for a baseball. She never does anything half way.
So, there I sat [...]

The following is a guest post from Shannon’s 16-year-old cousin. She lives in Tulsa, which got slammed this week by an ice storm. She originally posted it on 12/10 as a MySpace bulletin. The “grandma’s” she refers to is the house we go to every year to celebrate Christmas with Shannon’s family.
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i’ve been running on [...]

Today’s post title comes from a search term that lately has lots of people landing here. Last year, I posted a very well-received Free Christmas Song Each Day page. I posted at least one song each day, until all 19 were out there. I figured some folks reading this either a) didn’t know about that, [...]

Our "chariot" awaits (click to enlarge)
Last year we drove around Dallas’ Highland Park neighborhood, a relatively swank area featuring homes I grew up calling mansions, to look at grand Christmas displays. You know. The kind that people pay to have installed by illegal immigrants.
This year we did it in style.
In [...]

  That’s me in the center, with Captain Morgan as my team leader.
(NOTE: I’m trying something new with the photos today. Click any thumbnail to view full-size, and then click anywhere in the text behind it to come back here.)
It’s time finally to tell the tale of another first, and this one’s not for the [...]

Ben smiles on a ride in Papa’s Jeep. (click to see those baby blues better)
The long weekend was about smoked meats, sweet treats, and horse feets. I mean, hooves. And, no, they were not part of the cuisine.
My family’s Thanksgiving saw my dad smoking venison he slayed not two weeks before, and [...]

(click pic to enlarge and sharpen)
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My grandfather turned his 93-year-old body slowly in the metal folding chair to look my mother straight in the eye. “I’m not sure I approve of your taste in television programs,” he said.
It was strange for the television to be on at all, and what a weird workout it got.
Throughout my youth, I awoke every [...]

Note: I placed a new page banner for December, 2007. Refresh your browser if you still see a sideways boy up there.
I watched four-year-old Benjamin work his tiny scissors through a piece of construction paper.
“That’s a pretty good cut, son,” I said.
“Thank you. It’s my pleasure, Daddy.”
Such manners. That’s my boy. And thus begins another [...]