Focused at Fifty

"Baxter State Park, Maine" What shall be my third act? Or what shall it become? Sure, one can guide one's life, but you never truly know what will happen. I had so many plans 3 plus decades ago. Most of which never came to fruition. One may think it's frivolous and a waste of time to try and figure out what I am going to do for the next 2-3 decades but you can still guide your life in a direction which brings you love, good friendship, integrity, respect and satisfaction.  You all know me, I'm just being my normal perhaps overly reflective self. 😏 My first act was childhood, school and my 20s. I lived my second act through my 30s and 40s. The third act will hopefully include Maine and making plans with the Big Ragu for the next two decades. Who knows after that? I do know that I want to become empowered with the decades that I have left.  Forgive me for the overtones of one's mortality. You notice I have not called it my FINAL act. And there may perhaps be a ...

  Happy 90th Birthday to my wonderful Dad whose birthday was on Sept. 23rd, 2020! He is simply my hero, my mentor, my best friend, my inspiration, and my role model! I am in awe of you Dad! Love you! ♥️🥰😏

"Heather and I. She's drinking a Blue Moon. LOL" Last Saturday, I was asked, along with good friends Jamie and Miss Morag, to pay my respects and speak at the memorial service of my dear friend Heather Boyer. She had recently passed away after a valiant fight with a rare brain disease. Heather knew she wanted to battle this disease, if only for the very reason of helping to advance the treatment and understanding of it to hopefully prevent others from suffering from it in the future. She lost her battle but she made such an incredible impression of bravery and courageousness on her friends and family. Being asked to speak at a dear friend's service is one of the most honorable and humbling requests of service that one can be asked of. I did it without a second's thought. It was a sad day. It was one of laughter and tears, as it should be. Her husband and children were so strong. God bless them.  Many of you have asked me to reprint my eulogy so I am obliged to do ...

"Tailored Fit? Not for us mmmLarges!" It has been a crazy several months, hasn't it? As I stated last month, I have gone through my share of ups and downs. After discussing it with people, I realize that a lot of us are in the same place. We feel like we are in a low point in their lives. How are we dealing with it? How can we can out of it? Commiseration definitely helps. So does some humor.  First things first, I am looking at a website and wanted more info emailed to me. To prove you are not a robot, you have to go through a security test of picking those pictures with cars, boats, stop signs, traffic lists etc. Know these? Yeah, it seems pretty easy but NOT. Am I the online one with has trouble with this stupid test? I see something sticking out from the boat and think, should I include that? Is it going into another picture block? In fact is that EVEN a boat? After further observation, I conclude that it is in fact NOT a boat and is a car carrier loaded with 4-door s...

"Peace in the Green Mountains of Vermont" Hello my good friends and readers! I have been lax in writing and just haven't been inspired as of late. In a mood and just blocked. I would get triggered by a topic and then get bored by it. I know I needed to get something out so I decided to give a few ramblings and musings of this last month. It's been kind of sucky.  Now listen, I know I am usually pretty happy go lucky. I like to think my glass is half full. I look for the positive in life and try and stay upbeat. I don't know what hit me but it sure clobbered me this month. My mood just started spiraling downwards. I think honestly, everything happening with COVID-19 just started getting to me. This sense of foreboding hopelessness.  And sometimes, we like to wallow in our self pity and moodiness. I certainly did. I just wanna recognize it though, confront it. Even the most positive of people have their down times. I am included in this. The one day I put up somethi...

"2017 Trinidad, California: Marc, Sheryl, Adam & Dad" As my Dad approaches 90 in September, I have come to lovingly refer to him as seasoned. He gets a kick out of it and laughs every time I tell him that. His hearty laugh is the same as the first time versus the 8th time. I do try and make him laugh. It brings me great joy.  I enjoy our talks and as I've gotten older, I am aware of the nuances in the conversation:  when it's going good we talk for awhile, or when Dad wants to get off and mow the yard, or when he is watching the Golden State Warriors and wants to get off quick to get back to the game!  When I called him this year on Father's Day, we spoke about my recent morning at Cigars International. I had enjoyed a spicy Bloody Mary made with bacon vodka and a Blue Cohiba Robusto  cigar. I like my Bloody Mary's spicy and my cigars mild to medium. It was a good combo which I would have again.  I recounted how I used to smoke Backwoods ci...

Driving to meet the Big Ragu for a late evening beer on a beautiful Schuylkill County night. I roll down the windows, open the sunroof, favorite song playing 🥰. I can smell the impending thunderstorm. Ahhhhhh. I pass something quiçkly on the side of the road and dead deer smell engulfs the car. I start gagging and dry heaving all the way to the bar. Gotta love Skook County! 🙄😂😂😂