Friday, June 15, 2012

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When our kids were growing up we occasionally had our own personal emergency room at our house! Our youngest son dislocated his ankle in football, so the doctor put an air cast on his ankle for about six weeks for support. Oh, and then the oldest son, yeah he had surgery for a knee injury that he got in sports. So they recommended that he wear a knee brace whenever he played a game where he had to pivot much. So, let's see. You've got your ankle cast; you've got your knee brace. It's all based on a simple principle that prevents further injury.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

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At first I thought some apocalyptic event had hit our town. Schools were all empty, wasn't a school bus in sight, lots of people suddenly disappeared. Not to worry. It was just Spring Break.

Of course, for many of America's young people, Spring Break is code for "party like there's no tomorrow, baby." Well, after downing lots of booze and sometimes drugs...your internal censors just go off duty. So a lot of folks come back from break with little memory of some big mistakes. Partying that lasts for a night; regrets and scars that can last a lifetime. Going for "break" and coming back broken.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

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Each of our three children learned the Heimlich maneuver in school. You probably know what that is. If someone is choking, you get behind them; you do the magic squeeze to dislodge whatever they are choking on. It keeps them from choking to death.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

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Maybe it's because of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Yeah, as a boy watching that show on TV, I was fascinated watching my Mountie hero racing across the snow with his dog team. I even wore pants that were marked "husky."

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

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I was at a Christian conference center where the children's program included gymnastics instruction. No, no, I did not get involved personally; my leotard doesn't fit any more. But there were some kids who were getting the hang of the forward rolls and the backward rolls. And there were some kids there who weren't getting the hang of it as well. They paraded them all out one night for a little show. And one girl raised her hands as she was supposed to, very gracefully, got into position to do a forward roll, and stayed there. She couldn't quite get the roll rolling, until the instructor got behind her and pushed her forward again, and then again.

Friday, May 18, 2012

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The Indy 500 is probably the most exciting American automobile race of the year. I mean, you can almost feel the anticipation growing during the time trials and the qualifying events that lead up to the big race. And then, on the day itself, the engines rev, and the fans and the promoters cheer, and the cars make their first drive around that legendary track in Indianapolis. But there's really no race until that first lap.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

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So, our whole family had to go for blood tests. It was time to check everyone's cholesterol levels, we were told. Now, as our son's blood was being drawn, he suddenly said, "I'm feeling a little weak." Well, that's unusual, because this son was probably the strongest member of the family.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

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When Walt Disney animated the story of Snow White, he created seven memorable, even if short characters - the seven dwarfs. I'm not one of them! Now, I'm not going to ask you to name them; we'll save that for a game of Trivial Pursuit or something. But I always loved that little song they sang on the way to work.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

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After Whitney Houston's sudden death, the world has fixated on replaying her iconic and now more poignant performances of her signature songs. And what stuck in my mind is the video they have shown of one of her first performances and the video of one of her last.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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I know you shouldn't yell, especially on a Sunday, but I did. On a Sunday a few months ago during the Super Bowl.

But, hey, my New York Giants were playing for the championship. And they needed my help, right, my encouragement, and my suggestions of course. How could they hear me if I didn't yell? I know it's, okay, just earth stuff, but it was fun to watch them win; especially since I have a special attachment to the Giants that goes back to our years in the New York area, when I used to speak for some of their pre-game chapels.

Monday, April 2, 2012

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So after the Super Bowl everybody wanted to talk about the commercials. Great! I wanted to talk about the Giants.

Yeah, my team won the Super Bowl! Who cares about the commercials? Answer: the news, the blogosphere, social networks, gazillions of people at the water cooler! Of course, at $3.5 million a pop for a 30-second ad, advertisers were hoping we would talk about their commercial and buying what they were selling.

Friday, March 30, 2012

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Some days I wear a shirt and tie, because, well, that's kind of appropriate for the meetings I'm going to have that day. Now, you go home a little later and get into jeans and an old shirt. Why? Well, because I don't want to do all the work I'm going to be doing there in, you know, my dress up clothes. It will be appropriate for the work I have to do there.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

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I remember not long ago, this hot summer day when my oldest son and I were out working in the yard. I was doing the mowing; he was doing some clipping around the rocks; working just a little bit behind me where I had just mown. And I noticed that he was working pretty hard, and I glanced at him. I was pretty pleased with how he was doing, and I just kind of gave him a quick smile and went back to work.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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Some years ago, we learned a great way to make our vacation dollars stretch, and that's important these days! We ordered ice water with our meals instead of like Coke or something.

Now you say, "Well, that's no big deal." Yeah, it is. We finally talked our kids into it because the five of us, we figured, could save three or four dollars every time we ate out. And pretty soon you add those up and you've got enough to eat another meal out. We also learned it was a good idea to do that throughout the year. Hey, listen, drinking water is good for you.

Monday, March 5, 2012

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"So are you planning to go on a cruise sometime soon?" It was the guy checking me out at the drugstore, and he was pointing to the newspaper I was buying and sort of asked that with a wry smile. Because on the front page was this haunting picture of that capsized Italian cruise ship that went aground a few months ago.

Friday, March 2, 2012

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I think I've been on a diet since I was about three days old, and I've become somewhat of an expert at what works and what doesn't work at losing weight...or putting it on.

Frankly, I find it very difficult to lose weight, especially during times when I'm under pressure. Oh, maybe you're one of those people who are terminally thin, and so of course you don't even understand what I'm talking about! But maybe you're the one who does understand about losing weight and gaining it; your thorn in the flesh is your metabolism. Well, when things are calm and normal - status quo - it's a lot easier to maintain your diet disciplines. Then the crunch comes - extra stress - and out comes the crunch of cookies, and chips, and candy, and an attack of the munchies to help you get through the pressure. Pressure gives you this strangely expanded desire to eat. Now, usually, that's a bad response...usually. In some cases, it's actually a good idea.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

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I really like football. I just don't have a lot of time to watch it. But you know, I watched a whole game that wasn't even my team! It was the Denver Broncos when they won that astonishing victory over the heavily favored Pittsburgh Steelers in a wild-card playoff game. But I was watching more than a football game; I was watching Tim Tebow and the drama that unfolds every time he takes the field. That game was no exception.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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We raised a son who loves sports, but he also had ability in music. How do you put those two together? A lot of times those two interests don't go together. Well, it was fourth grade when we thought it was time to introduce our son to a musical instrument. And when we talked a little bit about what instrument he'd be interested in, he said, "Well, maybe the saxophone."

Friday, February 24, 2012

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Not long ago our family got in one of those uproarious "remember when" conversations. And the subject was various times that we had disciplined our children, and they were going way back. This took an hour and a half of them thinking back, "Remember the time you..." "Oh, yeah, that was hilarious!" We explained, for example, how we had always tried to discipline with natural consequences. You know, if you did something wrong with your mouth, you had to be quiet for a while. Or maybe in some cases have your mouth washed out. If you did something wrong with your hands, then you had to fold your hands; you forfeited the right to use them. At which point our oldest son said, "But I never did anything wrong with my bottom!" Which is where a lot of the disciplining took place. So much for natural consequences!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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They call it the shark tunnel. Yeah, that has to make you think twice about going in. It's an attraction, if you want to call it an attraction, at some of the aquariums and theme parks in America.

The tourists walk through this tunnel that's surrounded by glass above them and on both sides there's water all around them. And on the other side in that water are huge sharks swimming menacingly in their tank, and occasionally bumping into the glass. I think just about everyone has this primeval fear of sharks. Now I can't speak for everyone, but I do. And suddenly there they were all around me, and I was paying to see them - one wall between me and those monsters! But it made all the difference.