Point Made

Vacation. How's the Weather? After my wife and I returned from our visit to Seattle, with an unexpected side trip to O'Hare in Chicago, I'm back in my writing chair. First the Seattle trip. We always seem to be in Seattle when the weather is nice. Don't ask me why. I haven't a clue. I think it might be just a comparative thing. Anytime people from that area complain about their cold and damp climate, I tell them what cold means in Wisconsin and that when they have to shovel the rain they are complaining about I feel bad for them. While we were there, the sun shined brightly even if it occasionally had to fight some big puffy clouds. Truth be told like Wisconsin, Washington needs some rain. The true test of weather in Seattle is your ability to "see the mountain". In the gloomiest of circumstances seeing Mount Rainer is impossible. On a clear day, you can't miss it. We were leaving the downtown stadium where the Seattle Sounder's, the Major Lea...

Tis Summer,   where every weekend seems to be hot, humid and eventful. We are in the midst of, what I call, the one hundred and twenty days of possible good weather in Northern Wisconsin. Our drought continues. As a result, my lawn experiment reveals unintended but interesting outcomes. I and this was against my better judgment, treated our lawn with "Weed and Feed". This branded product is supposed to eliminate weeds and promote the growth of green grass. The other thing, the thing you have to think about, it does is increase the number of times you have to cut the grass. I've often stopped people in the middle of their tirade about how many times they cut the grass to inquire if they fertilize their lawn. If they tell me they do, my mindset switches from empathy to contempt. Because I volunteered to cut my neighbor, Harley's lawn this summer, I thought about treating his also. In the end, I did not spread the chem...

We old folk at some point start thinking of how much time we have left. Some of us think about it a lot and others not so much, but we do think about it. Having looked at life, I would have to say I lived it both rationally and often irrationally. I would categorize my taking the motorcycle safety courses at the age of 68 as one of those irrational moments. It was only when I was satisfied with the options I had left, I calmed down a little. I recognized there are some things older folks have in common during this period. Those of us who are healthy want to be relevant. By that I mean, we want to be doing something useful. We want to be doing something that if we couldn't do it anymore, they would have to get someone else to do it. In reflecting back on my life, I have to say that I have a restless spirit. Endlessly curious, I have done a lot of things, but none of them particularly good. I was what we used to call a jack of all tra...