Time passes one brick at a time

Yesterday we took the boys to the new Legoland Florida theme park. The boys had an amazing day, judging by their smiles, laughter and my over-exuberant uploading of photos to Facebook. Carla and I couldn’t help but reflect on our two previous visits to that property, each in a very different set of circumstances. Before … Continue reading Time passes one brick at a time →

No matter how far away we roam

I’ll be home for after Christmas. We’re at T-minus two days and counting until the big day. Soon, Carla’s parents will be arriving and we’ll being going to Christmas Eve services at church. The surprise and joy of Christmas morning will give way to the irritability and arguing of sleep-deprived children. Cognitively, I know that … Continue reading No matter how far away we roam →

With every Christmas card I write

Even before my children start their annual greed lists, my wife begins a months-long odyssey of creating the perfect family image to send to loved ones at Christmas. What some people dismiss as an antiquated practice involving such archaic institutions as the U.S. Postal Service, sending Christmas cards is the apogee of the season for … Continue reading With every Christmas card I write →

Build yourself a merry Lego Christmas

That children inherit certain physical and personality traits from their parents is indisputable. Carla and I are both planners and list makers, so it should be no surprise that our children follow suit. However, I am having trouble explaining the borderline mental disorder that has beset my children this year as they compulsively write and … Continue reading Build yourself a merry Lego Christmas →

O Christmas tree

“How about this one?” I held the 6-and-a-half foot Frasier Fir at arm’s length, shaking it vigorously so the branches would fall into a more natural position. “Nope. Too skinny,” my wife said, frowning and shaking her head. “You keep rejecting these trees because they’re too skinny. I’m starting to get a complex,” I said … Continue reading O Christmas tree →

In search of Black Friday

I hate shopping. I don’t even really like Internet shopping. There is absolutely nothing appealing about Black Friday to me. I don’t believe in its philosophical underpinnings. I don’t understand its attraction. I don’t acknowledge its existence. But like someone chasing a ghost or questing for grainy 8 millimeter footage of Big Foot, I set out … Continue reading In search of Black Friday →

Stop, listen, what’s that sound?

By now, many of you have already discovered the unique pleasures of the emergence of Brood XIX. For about the last month, the 13-year cicada has been coming up out of the soil to sing its song, do its thing, die off and come back in another 13 years. By around July 4, it’ll be … Continue reading Stop, listen, what’s that sound? →

My big royal redneck wedding

While I type, NBC’s Today Show hosts talk breathlessly about the royal family members entering Westminster Abbey for the wedding of the decade. William and Catherine’s nuptials have created a media stir, drawing the obsessive attention of anglophiles and royalty voyeurs from around the world. It is reality TV at its most unreal. As I … Continue reading My big royal redneck wedding →