Summer Ends, Fall Begins

What’s on today’s menu? Barbecued ham, whipped potatoes, and veggies—a picnic on the dining deck later this afternoon. I remember neighborhood picnics on the 4th of July and Labor Day, the official opening and closing of summer in Connecticut. Very few braved a cold...

On Football and Failure

Bum Phillips, coach of the Houston Oilers in the 70’s and the New Orleans Saints in the 80’s, died on October 18, 2013 at the age of 90. His real name was Oail Andrew Phillips Jr., but he was always called Bum, short of brother, which his younger sister couldn’t...

Games

I’m having a hard time gearing up for Christmas. After two drafts, our annual Christmas letter remains as dull as a worn-down pencil-point. During Thanksgiving week, I completed the third draft of my book manuscript and, after the intense effort, feel at loose ends....

Skunked

skunk  (skngk) n. 1.a. Any of several small, mostly carnivorous New World mammals of the genus Mephitis and related genera, having a bushy tail and black fur with white markings and ejecting a foul-smelling oily liquid from glands near the anus when frightened or...