Until recently I have never been a fan of cemeteries... and as a kid I believed them to be scary places to be avoided. However, if one has family in residence it becomes more difficult to avoid visitation on special occasions such as Mothers,Veterans, Birthday days etc... I can avoid it but it haunts me …
Continue reading Holiday Inn vs the Ritz two Cambridge Cemeteries
The strangest thing has been happening to me lately, which has me wondering if it is coincidence or some sort of personal message. I have been finding random amounts of change everywhere I go…. but mostly while running. At first it was a dime one day and a nickel then next but then I started …
https://youtu.be/LxLECbf0nOA Times They Are A Changin' My daughter Izzy left for school this morning but before she left she cheek to cheek bump me and said, "have a great day, beautiful man". I stood at the kitchen sink and was both glad to be blessed with such wonderfully loving daughters but sadden that a …
Its Sunday night and the Patriots (Pats) are playing the Kansas City Chiefs at home on a cold October, New England night. There is no better place to be on a night like this than to be sitting in a recline-ah (recliner) sipping on an ice cold “bottle” of beer while watching the Pats. In …
Silver Dollar Salute - Coins play a unique part in Military tradition. My first introduction to their history was after saluting a friend who had just received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, aboard the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). By tradition, the silver dollar is a coin given in …
Have you ever been in conversation when a magnificent word is used and it fits so tightly into the point of the message that it brings a smile to your face? Well if you have then I believe you to enjoy uncommon words. Words can be like dessert; they can sweeten a sentence making …
Let’s face it there are a lot of chores to do before, during and after a camping trip. The kids get conscripted to do some but the main load of the work (packing, setting up, cooking, driving, overall logistics, etc.…) is left to the parents. So what’s in it for us? Why do we …
Continue reading Family Camping Trips: Fun for kids but what’s in it for parents?
This week I received two short notes in the mail from my daughter Colleen. She wrote to say she was thinking about her grandmother (Grammy) and thought to share her thoughts with me. In the broader scope of things today where everyone is a star, a winner and a hero we loose sight of an …
Today I passed by this old barn and had to turn back around to capture an image. The boards were bleached by the sun and stained by the splash backs of rain and slush. Each knot and grain of the barn boards marked the passage of time and an endurance of seasons. Like me .... …
My Happiness Project blueprint suggests that I talk to strangers more. You never know where it might go.....but to do it well, one has to engage the stranger in a way that starts a dialogue and then enables you to sit tight, observe and enjoy. This morning Abby and I made a trip to the …
I recently met a friend who shared some of the same odd experiences that I do. The other night Abby and I dined with both new and old friends until late in the evening. During the conversation I happened to mention that I love to drink white Zinfandel wine, which for some reason is …
Continue reading Kindred Spirits: “Some souls just understand each other upon meeting.” –n.r.hart
I've been playing with the idea of starting a personal Happiness Project. I learned a little about the process from Ted Talks and articles written by Gretchen Rubin https://gretchenrubin.com/ . In a nutshell the project aims to help develop a habit for focusing on things that promote personal happiness. Over coffee my wife and I …
My mother always loved New England churches and not just because she’d played Beano (Bingo) in almost every one of them. Her favorite church though, was on Arch Street in Boston. It was special to her because it’s the Shrine of her patron saint, St. Anthony the patron of lost things. Whenever my mother misplaced …
My mom passed today at the age of 96...about a month short of what would have been her 97th birthday. Anyone who knew her would tell you it was an experience knowing and being around her... She shot from the hip, straight true and direct... I'll miss her strength, infinite capacity to forgive and her …
I have always been a bit curious about non-traditional medicine but frankly haven’t ever needed it. Over the past four weeks however, I have been suffering with a sore and swollen left knee, which has got me looking for a get well plan. When I get an injury I tend to use fuzzy logic derived …
I’m a week into my retirement and I’m feeling very unqualified to answer the many questions I’ve been asked. How does it feel being retired? What’s it like? What’s your plan? Are you going back to work? How does you wife feel about having you home all day? And on and on…they never stop …
My Retirement Plan: Make every day Saturday …except Saturday which becomes Super Saturday…. I have always loved Saturday’s. For years I have tried to find a way to fit a day in between Saturday and Sunday to make it last …. I tried taking a Friday or Monday off to see if that would …
To me photography is as much art as any painting or sculpture. I’m sure my bias comes from working for Polaroid for 20 plus years starting in the late 1970's …. During that time, I grew to love great photographs knowing intimately what went into their making. Over my career at Polaroid I worked with …
Katelyn Mary....This is an open letter to you …days before your 36th birthday on March 8th, 2018. I've been sitting here at my desk wondering where time has gone, while you have been busy emerging from adolescence into womanhood. Happy Birthday you have earned it! I know reading any of my blog posts would be painful to the English professor …
I come across the most bizarre magazine articles while waiting for an oil change at Jiffy Lube. I stumbled upon one in an old edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology "The risk factors for non-shavers vs shavers". It started by saying “We did find an association between low frequency of sexual intercourse and infrequent …
I grew up in a town with a lot of bars. This particular one is tucked behind Central Square, Cambridge and was called Charlie's Tap, a gritty workingman's tavern. I hated the place as a kid.... because my mother worked there as a barmaid.... a fact I was not proud of as a kid growing up. …
There’s an old brick building on the corner of Main and Osborn Street in Cambridge Massachusetts that arguably could be considered the birthplace of the modern day smart phone. An unassuming structure as historic buildings go, for years it looked like an abandoned warehouse but inside the beauty of innovation has blossomed for years. What …
Team, I sent this message to all of you in 2010 to inspire us all to use that winter wisely and to promote a healthy 2011 race season. We may be a few years older but the message is still a good one... USMC Motivation Sgt. Ferguson Messages from the past: A 2010 Season Winter …
Big Mike "Cheeks" Paquette...a Marine Corps brother of mine retired yesterday. He's 2 days older than I am.... I am very happy for him .....and wish him all the best, but I'm envious of his new retired status. At the end of his last day, I received the following text message from him: “Just had …
Continue reading Cigars, Blue Birds and Black Bush Whiskey ….
Some believe in signs from the universe and others believe in coincidences… I think it is more fun to believe that the universe sends signs to us… and I often get the feeling that something or someone is sending me messages. A few weeks ago I kept hearing references to Stoicism. You must …
The Bow Legged Blogger 