There was a simple toy I used to love. It featured a bald man with big eyes and a red nose, who was shielded behind a plastic case. There was a red-handled stick, or ‘wand’ as it was called on the package, that had a magnet on one end.
Inside the plastic case were metal shavings. If I placed the toy flat, I could use the magnetic wand to drag the shavings over the man’s face, giving him hair on his ...
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I stood patiently waiting to pay for my socket set. There was a couple in front of me who, with the help of an employee, were thumbing through a sale flyer. Whatever it was they wanted to buy, it seemed that it was in the flyer but not in the showroom.
“I know I have some in the back,” said the clerk.
The three then left the register area and headed that direction.
There was one other employee in the tool department. He ...
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If I ever find a bottle with a genie in it, I’m using all three wishes to have someone else mow my yard.
I know, you’re thinking that I should use one of my three wishes for a permanent genie lawn boy and the other two for a winning lottery ticket and TV news with no arguing. But, I’m fairly certain that even an eternal genie would tire of mowing my yard. It’s fairly large.
When I was a kid, I couldn’t ...
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Einstein’s theory of relativity includes something called “Time Dilation.”
I’m about as far from being a scientist as one can possibly be, but the way that I understand time dilation, two clocks show different times when they’re affected by gravity or velocity. A clock on earth would move faster than one in orbit. The faster you go, the slower time moves.
Supposedly, this theory has been proven through multiple tests, but my own test also bears out his results.
As evidence, I present ...
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I saw something this week that I hadn’t seen in almost 50 years. At first, I stared, puzzled, at the photo my aunt had posted online from her antique shop. I recognized the item, but just couldn’t place it. Then it clicked.
It was a barber chair booster seat.
The long, heavy metal base supports a frame that, in turn, supports a small round seat, which, in turn, once supported the bottoms of boys while they got their hair cut.
I used one ...
Continue Reading →The first time I saw the red Formica dinette table, I wanted it. It reminded me of the aqua colored one that resided in my childhood home. I tried to buy it from my neighbor. Twice.
But my neighbor wasn’t interested in selling it. Over the period of a few years, he and his wife would have garage sales. They always had nice items they were offering, but that red Formica dinette table and its matching four chairs weren’t something they ...
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At first, it looked like an onion sitting on the counter. As I got closer, the end still looked just looked like an onion, but it was actually the first yellow squash from our spring garden.
The onions won’t be far behind.
There is a sense of independence and pride that comes with being able to walk out your back door and harvest most, if not all, of your evening meal.
I can’t take much credit for our garden, because my wife does ...
Continue Reading →As I write this, the tornadoes of April 29 are just hours behind us.
My wife and I were fortunate. Where we live was spared. Our fellow East Texans in Canton and other towns were not.
Canton was hit by four twisters, and Grand Saline by one.
There was loss of life and loss of homes and property.
As I look out of the bay window of our home, the sun is shining and the air is calm and crisp. A stark contrast from ...
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Since my wife retired, she does what many retirees do. Whatever she wants.
Like many families, our children and other family members are scattered across the country like dice across a table. Consequently, some of her time is spent flying or driving for visits in Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, and other destinations.
But, being gone from home requires the one thing that most wives dread. Leaving their husbands unattended. For whatever reason, women think that men are completely incapable of handling a few ...
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A number of years ago, I stumbled across a television program on what was then a new cable offering called the RFD-TV channel. A man named Cee Dub was on the screen cooking an entire meal using only Dutch ovens. I was fascinated.
I vaguely remembered these cast iron pots with three legs from my days in the Scouts. I made it through Cub Scouts and Webelos, but only a year or so of Boy Scouts. By about age 12, I ...
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