All Blog Posts (1,092)

Furry Brotherly Love…

I worked as a special education teacher.  I worked with mostly women, mostly married.  I had lots of friends, a wonderful family, but I had not met that 'special someone'--I was approaching 34 years old!  What to do??  How to meet someone??  I took a leap of faith and put an ad in a local paper in the 'singles' section.  I was nervous, but willing to take the chance!  Luckily, someone else was willing to take the chance, too.  He read my ad, held on to it, thought about it, then made the…

Today at the door of Sherwin Williams Paint in Springfield

"I saw ya coming through the door - Owen, right? I never forget a face

Remember me, Steve, from the Brookhaven store, bout 15 years ago I was

the assistant, Randy was the manager. Little guy with glasses, real hyper.

I'm in the paint biz, now"

"Oh yeah, I remember you, how ya…

Penelope's end

When I first started out in business I screwed up my first half dozen jobs, barely escaping with the

check. I was a few dollars away from totally broke or worse, a regular job, when I got my break. A

friend turned me on to an older lady with some big bucks. A relative of both the Duponts and the

Woods of Wawa, we're talking a coupla hundred million.  Mrs. Sands was stinkin rich but you

certainly wouldn't know it from the crappy little home she…

When it's really love

You find yourself willing to make sacrifices

Willing to do things you don't like to see them smile

Giving of yourself, even when it's hard to

Learning to pick your battles

Wanting your needs to be met

But also wanting to meet…

my mother on her dentures, " Owen, you don't understand, they're in there like a torpedoed ship,

half up and half down."

26 years ago today, the Challenger tragedy touched the entire nation, but nowhere more than Concord, NH schoolkids.  My son was a 5th grader.  Every morning, everyone had watched the launch preparations on local cable station, which had a special feed, and seen the technician give Christa McAuliffe an apple, and the astronauts take that walk to the bus to go out to the…

Risen from the ashes

The dispair will soon be vanquished

In its place, a new hope has come

Though the dark clouds loom overhead

Victory is at hand

Worry not, my friend

Peace will be found…

Now that a national hissy fit has been thrown regarding proposed legislation to stop rampant internet piracy (thus cowing the bovine politicians we sometimes mockingly refer to as our 'leaders' into submission),  I think we should look at the real issue at hand regarding SOPA. 

Money.

Nothing more, nothing less. Unless you consider trafficking in…

Last week, my home state of New Mexico marked its centennial anniversary of statehood. Before that, it was a territory. And before that, it was part of Mexico. And so on. 

New Mexico was given statehood in 1912. They taught us that in school, like they taught us about Coronado searching for the seven cities of gold. When you're a child, you just accept these…

My absolute favorite dessert is a raisin-nut pie that my mother used to make and now my son makes for family holiday dinners (all two of them).  It's made with raisins, walnuts, Karo syrup and I don't know what else, other than it gives me 10 lbs. and 2 cavities per slice.  The reason I love it so much goes back to my 7th birthday.  My mother made me a gorgeous cake, a…

Look at all I have -

So much more then just new things.

Love fills our household.

I watch as you sleep

And I wonder where you are.

Can I join you now?

Sometimes a blossom,

Sometimes only a petal.

Always a flower.

I am a volunteer usher at the Capitol Center for the Arts in NH, where this event was held, and I was the orchestra level floor captain, responsible for all seating and logistics in the 1,000-seat orchestra where candidates' families and campaigns, selected press, and the general public were seated.  It's amazing the planning that goes into this kind of event, but it paid off; the event went very smoothly.  I'm working on a longer summary - hard to summarize such big events.  Probably…

For those of us who love animals, this movie will earn your respect and admiration. A glowing portrayal of the lifelong bond between a boy and his horse, even when separated.



War Horse is directed by Steven Spielberg, so you know you’re in for one high adventure ride. It begins with the friendship between an amazing horse named Joey and the young boy, Albert, who trains and tames him. Albert is laughed at by the rural England farm community when he hooks the horse up to a…

Unbeknownst to Mitt Romney, his presidential bid is doomed to failure. His fate is sealed. The White House just ain't in the cards. How do I know this? Simple, really. I hitchhiked through Utah in the early 1970's.

As Joe Walsh once stated in an album title, "You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind". So please allow me to make my case.

I was…

Nature is the Great Teacher, the Great Leveller... the Big It. So it is always humbling to learn from Her.

My most recent encounter was in the world of that most humble of creatures, the squirrel. Tree rats, as some folks disparagingly call 'em around here. 

Squirrels are generally perky little creatures, chattering with their tails wagging in warning to their kin about potential danger. They bury nuts, which grow into trees, if they aren't eaten beforehand. And…