My neighbor Jerry came by the house last Sunday, to help me build a makeshift ice skating rink in our front yard. OK, that’s not exactly true. Saying that Jerry came by the house to help me build a skating rink, is like saying that Moses came by the encampment to help me part the Red Sea. Although I was in fact present at the scene of the miracle, my role was clearly that of assistant. As I quickly discovered, one of the key distinctions between my approach to construction […] Click to read more…

I finally broke down this year and bought one of those high powered leaf blowers for my lawn. I say “broke down,” because it’s always been my position that something as “back to nature” as removing fallen leaves should not be done with modern machinery. After all, if God had meant for us to use electric leaf blowers, he would have attached 50 foot extension cords to our bodies. Anyway, at 43 years old, romance has finally given way to practicality, so last Saturday I took out my new toy […] Click to read more…

My parents have been married for 55 years. In 1973, just before their 25th wedding anniversary, I distinctly remember asking my mother the following question: “Haven’t you and Dad run out of things to talk about?” (Even back then I was a troublemaker.) At 13 years old, it seemed perfectly logical to me that after 25 years together, two people would pretty much have used up whatever conversational content they had to draw on. Today, having been married myself for 14 years, I know firsthand that there’s no risk of […] Click to read more…