Once again, the election process kicks in. This is not an endorsement for any candidate, as I feel that would seriously jeopardize my credentials as an impartial, independent blogger / influencer. For those of you that don’t understand the primary system, it’s a convoluted, messy, scrappy way that we pick delegates, and sometimes really good delegates – they’re called superdelegates, state-by-state that will eventually elect the party’s nominees. We have dozens of candidates blowing through gazillions of gallons of jet fuel crisscrossing the country in attractive geometric patterns, and its ultimate purpose is to take all of the mystery and surprise out of the conventions. That’s it in a nutshell. Right now, there’s a lot of fun going on here in New Hampshire surrounding our primary because it’s the first officially scheduled one, except for Iowa, which is a caucus and not really a primary. The difference is that, people go to polling stations and, well, I’m not really sure what, but somehow, they indicate their preferences. We use a paper ballot, which is much better. Then we have foreign nationals to count the ballots and tell us who won.
Continue reading “Heading Into the Primaries, Again”Author: Thomas Walters
Keeping a Sunny Outlook
Yes, I know. We’re into the “bleak mid-winter”. I step out the door, and my nose and hands immediately yell at me, “Quick – get back inside”. The weather is alternating a few hours of sun, followed by clouds, then periods of snow or freezing rain. The wind comes up and rattles the windows. The Super Bowl is coming up, and our beloved Patriots didn’t even make the playoffs. Nothing new really in Red Sox nation either, although it will pick up and we just know that they’ll be a contender next year. My gardens are covered in snow, but I know that underneath all that dormancy, there is beauty just waiting patiently for the warm weather to come back. The election cycle and the primaries are heating up, but I just know that the country will come to its senses and elect someone I like. Or at least one that I don’t think will be in jail by November.
Continue reading “Keeping a Sunny Outlook”The Day the World Stood Still
That long-dreaded day has come at last. It has sent shockwaves around New England, across the nation, and around the world. No, not another war some part of the world. Not the death of a beloved world leader. Not an earthquake somewhere in the Pacific. Not a medical breakthrough that will change the course of history. Much more important than any of those. Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, has stepped down. What we had hoped wouldn’t come to pass in our lifetime has arrived. “(Insert name here) has been named the new Head Coach of the Patriots.” Oh, wait . . . this from Gillette Stadium – Jerod Mayo has been named the new coach. Gone, but never forgotten will be the much-loved hoodie with chopped off sleeves, the clipped and terse statements at press conferences, and the squinting look of disapproval even as the football passes between the uprights by a Patriot kicker. And in a very important cultural change for New Englanders here and away, we’ll have to get used to saying, “In Jerod We Trust”. Perhaps the National Mint could slip that on the dollar bill to reinforce the message.
Continue reading “The Day the World Stood Still”Lottery Objectives At Odds . . . . . .
As I have written several times in the past, I’m a faithful and regular customer of the lottery. With every ticket purchased, I’m poised on the balcony of wealth. Sometimes it’s unimaginable wealth, sometimes just a few million. It’s always with a degree of torment to hear about someone in Ohio or Wisconsin, or most recently in Michigan, that bought the winning ticket, be it a ticket for Powerball or Mega-Millions, or just a scratch ticket. They’re quoted on the news, saying “I don’t usually buy tickets. I was just walking by the 7Eleven, and it was a spontaneous thing.” Are you kidding me? They shouldn’t tell me that, at least out loud. There was the story in the news years back of the lady that bought a lottery ticket – yes, a single ticket, mind you, in Florida while on vacation. It won, of course, and the reporter mentioned the irony of – get this – her driving her Rolls Royce back to Florida to collect her winnings. Did she need that? I’m thinking . . . . Then there are the repeat winners. The people that had a million-dollar scratch ticket two years ago and, how delightful, just got another one. Bought at the same store somewhere out in rural Oklahoma or Arkansas, although now they live in Palm Springs. Now that’s just God laughing at me.
Continue reading “Lottery Objectives At Odds . . . . . .”Lady Peacock on the Disabled List
(Part of the continuing series: The Lady Peacock Chronicles – the Life, Times, and Challenges of Being Lady Peacock)
Our dear friend Lady Peacock had an unfortunate, serious accident recently. She was taking her granddaughter to a play and fell on a brick walkway. We’ve all done that, and it’s painful and traumatic. Lady P. did sustain some significant injuries, and I don’t mean to make light of them because I genuinely feel sorry for her, particularly at the holidays. She broke a bone in her thumb and has a brace to immobilize that hand, which of course is awkward for any number of tasks. This follows on the heels of a car accident in which her significant other was involved, so he too is in a period of recuperation. So, life continues to be difficult for pool Lady P.
Continue reading “Lady Peacock on the Disabled List”The Great Christmas Tree Dilemma
Once again, Americans are divided. Other than politics, looming on the immediate horizon is a truly divisive issue – live versus artificial Christmas trees. What’s best? What makes the most economic sense? What’s best for the environment? We’ve all seen the truck loads of trees cut some time ago rolling into parking lots everywhere for sale. Hardware and department stores have had displays of artificial ones since just after Indigenous People’s (Columbus) Day. So, how to decide. . . .
Continue reading “The Great Christmas Tree Dilemma”Thankful Memories, Once Again
That time of year is upon us once again. Thanksgiving brings families together, and it’s a time to reminisce about those we have had, those that are the future, and the people that have gone before us. This year, we’re gathering at our house – Susan’s sister and husband, our nephew and his family, and of course, Betsy. The last time we hosted, I suggested as something interesting a “game bird medley” – the supermarkets now sell duck and goose. I thought it would be a change, but Herself and my sister-in-law shot that down faster than a Chinese spy balloon. I had a long conversation with my sister the other night, and we talked about family remembrances and happy times. All of us have tales of Thanksgivings past that solicit smiles and warm memories. Some I’ve included in previous posts, but I think they bear repeating now. These are some of mine. Whether you’ve seen them before or they’re new, enjoy!
Continue reading “Thankful Memories, Once Again”Bring Back Gravestone Inscriptions
This blog is a follow-up to my highly successful ones on obituaries, which featured the best and worst things to include in them. If I live long enough, I’ll republish them or include them in my humorous memoirs. On occasion, I’d tell my students to watch what they said out loud, because it was all fair game for my memoirs. Several gave me a couple of chapters worth. But I digress.
Continue reading “Bring Back Gravestone Inscriptions”You Know You’re Getting Older When . . . .
I wrote a few years back that there comes a time, for all of us, when gravity is no longer our friend. Our fingers, arms, and legs don’t really work in concert the way they did when we were in our thirties and forties. Ok, maybe even our fifties and sixties. I know what the scientists will say – that we need gravity so that things don’t just drift about like in a space capsule. Ok, understood. Force of gravity however, isn’t the only lead indicator that we’re not quite as functional as we used to be. Our lifestyles too have dramatically changed – some elements for the better, some perhaps not. I don’t believe for a minute that 70 is the new 50, except for Joe Biden and Jane Fonda. Eyes, teeth, and joints aren’t buying it either. But all of those little things keep announcing to us, like a bullhorn, that time is marching on. So, you know you’re getting older when . . . . .
Continue reading “You Know You’re Getting Older When . . . .”To Pumpkin or Not to Pumpkin
Well, we’re coming up on that time of year again. Do I buy pumpkins for outside or not? By Halloween, the chipmunks and squirrels have eaten holes in them, making us look more or less like that derelict property in the neighborhood that everyone avoids. If I put out attractive swags of Indian corn, the birds will have stripped them clean in a matter of days. And while I got out my mighty leaf blower to tidy up a day or two ago, they’ve all blown back in again. My gardens are largely compost too at this stage. It’s that in-between season where the fall colors have faded, the leaves have fallen, the days are cooler, and Herself limits my turning on the heat unless we have a really crisp morning.
Continue reading “To Pumpkin or Not to Pumpkin”
I'm Thinking...No! 