Monthly Archives: December 2016
400-Word Stroll, 12/30/16: WAAAAAAITAMINIT!
“In-a that great a-getting’-up mornin’, what is that? What is that?” Okay, just save it. I know all about gettin’-up mornin’ creaks, groans and tendons popping, sounding like R2D2 with crossed circuits. I know all about limp hair skewed every direction at the same time. Mine usually resembles a Halloween novelty wig somebody found for 25 cents at … Continue reading
QTMs, 12/29/16: 5 WAYS TO CHERISH TODAY
If you were the Thursday between Christmas and New Years, you’d feel slighted, too. Though companies are open, the workdays between the two holidays are as practical as a snake on a tricycle. What to do? Give today back its worth. Make today mean something. Using a devotion from Colossians 4:12-18 I got in this morning’s mail, … Continue reading
QTMs for 12/27/16: CLEAR THE HURDLES
See, I didn’t get that when I was in P.E. It’s why I hated hurdles. In the Spring, Milt Durand, our P.E. teacher, took us middle schoolers all out to the cinder track. Occasionally he figured we all needed to run hurdles. Did I mention I hated them? I was embarrassed to even be seen with all … Continue reading
A CHRISTMAS EVE PET PEEVE ALERT
As we walk out of the crumbs and crust of 2016 and head on into the coming year, I have a request. Memes have become ubiquitous on social media. Some are amusing, some underwhelming, and a few each day are memorable and worth repeating. Of the latter, I ask the creators of those memes to … Continue reading
Q(uiet) T(ime) M(usings), 12/21/16: WHADDYA MEAN IT NEEDS BATTERIES?
Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth; Goodwill to Men; and Batteries Not Included. I remember when the toys and games we received at Christmas needed no batteries or power cords. They came complete with the most impressive, awe-striking, exhaustless power source ever created: Our own imagination. We weren’t limited only to the … Continue reading
WHOA-HO-HO… MER–YOU NEED IT WHEN?
There are approximately two billion children worldwide. With an average of 3.5 kids per home, Ol’ Kris Kringle will need to visit about 571 million homes this coming Christmas Eve. If said kids leave two cookies and a glass of milk in each home, our intrepid red-togged hero will snarf something in the neighborhood of … Continue reading
Quiet Time Musings, 12/5/16: FIRE & FORGETS
They’re those steady, dependable people you wish you had a lot more of. Give them a job, a responsibility and let them go. Yeah. Like those honking big missiles fighter pilots have to disrupt incoming hordes of aircraft. Let them lock on, drop ’em off the wing, and go on about your sightseeing tour. The target is … Continue reading
THE HARD EDGE of BUILDING SOMETHING: WHAT NOW?
Few enjoy hearing hard truth. The mature recognize its value. It’s galling to be identified merely because of one’s age. I often hear from 30-somethings the mantra, “I’m not like that! Don’t lump me in with them!” I get it. It’s a mistake to presuppose who and what a person is based on the habits … Continue reading
QTMs for 12/2/16: THE OLD GIRL NEEDS A TUNE-UP
“You shouldn’t talk about Mom that way!” That elicited a half-lidded, right-eyebrow-cocked, head-slightly-canted, lip-quirked stare – you know, the soundless equivalent of, “Really? You went there?” Everyone knew better, since we were standing in my garage next to our little red convertible SVT Cobra Mustang. We engaged in the usual parent-child-sibling verbal Ping-Pong, laughed and then repeated that sacred … Continue reading