Monthly Archives: April 2011

Remodeling by stages has its disadvantages. The dust and debris of tearing out the old can cover the new with a layer that one’s wife may not find particularly amusing or refreshing. In fact, it can test the relationship. So, … Continue reading →

The memories of my youth are mostly of working on the farm: rising early for morning milking, feeding the cows and calves, working in the crops, etc. Saturdays and Sundays were no different from any other day in regard to … Continue reading →

In this quiet light the morning comes slow and calm deep greens bring a sheen of spring covering the fields and hills and banks I give thanks for blade and blossom the hope and comfort of fresh beginnings budding branches … Continue reading →

I have wondered from time to time about the years in the life of the carpenter about which we have no information. We know quite a bit about his birth, except for the actual date, of course. And, we know … Continue reading →

On Saturday evening, I prepare for grilling. While the charcoal moves toward the white ash stage, Craig and Jay and I hide plastic eggs around the yard. A half-hour later, I start the hamburgers, hot dogs and cheddarwursts. In between … Continue reading →

He complained that evening that he wasn’t feeling well, something about his back hurting, up high, between the shoulder blades. It didn’t seem like anything severe or serious and neither of them thought much about it. His usual routine was … Continue reading →

Boy howdy, did we sure have Kansas this past week: near ninety degrees last Sunday, thirty-mile-an-hour winds a few days, thunderstorms, rain, temperature dropping forty degrees in twenty-four hours and a chance of snow for the weekend. Saturday’s gray dawning … Continue reading →

Like a poor cousin or a friend who can’t shut up about a bitter divorce, winter came early and stayed late. From November to May, a month longer each way, it came with its callused cold and a long, lingering … Continue reading →

The sun had just begun to burn through the fog while my colleague and I were walking back from the Navy Pier toward our hotel in Chicago on a chilly April day. As we walked south on North Columbus Street, … Continue reading →