Contrary to Jimmy Dugan’s famous line in the movie, A League of Their Own, there is crying in baseball. I for one am shedding tears. It is April and there are no games. Clayton Kershaw is in his back yard tossing Nerf Balls with his kids. Mike Trout swats at house flies these days, not high fastballs. How is it that there is no baseball? Baseball was my first love. I remember … [Read more...]

  I suppose the lives of most Boomers can be measured by the pets we owned, and my family had some doozies. At Easter, I recall getting baby chickens and baby ducks – dyed in pastel colors – in our Easter baskets. It was a right of passage and there was no such thing as PETA. We just had pet birds for a spell. With ducks, when they lost their dyed colors and the cute factor, it was … [Read more...]

  Last weekend, Nancy and I went on a little Sunday Drive. We hopped in the car, drove down to Eltzroth & Thompson for some plants, then headed across the mountain via I-64 to Greenville and a visit to Springdale Gardens where we picked up a couple bullfrog tadpoles and some water garden accessories. On the way home, we took the long route along Rt. 250. We saw redbuds in bloom, pink … [Read more...]

  His name was Freddie Arnold. He was sent by heaven to save a young Boomer from a life dominated by girls. He was my first, best friend. The summer before I would start third grade in Beckley, WV, my family moved across town. I would be in a new school and in a new neighborhood. The day the movers were unloading our furniture, a bolt of lightning hit the refrigerator one of the men was … [Read more...]

  A number of years ago,  I discovered coupons. The grocery stores began putting the coupons in their ads and one day I cut out a few. It was like the first roll of dice to an addicted gambler in Las Vegas. I was hooked – saving 10 cents here and 20 cents there. Our limited shelf space became overloaded. “What are these three boxes of Meow Mix doing in the cabinet,” my wife, Nancy, asked. “I … [Read more...]

There was a time when Americans eagerly greeted a door-to-door salesman. He was welcomed into the home for a chat and maybe a cup of coffee – sometimes a bite of lunch. The well-respected visitor asked about the family and any news in the neighborhood, and then opened his case of wares. Most were brushes. He was, after all, The Fuller Brush Man The Fuller Brush Man was a consummate … [Read more...]

There is now an app for just about everything on the planet. But oddly, there is not an App for Boomers - a complete listing of all the perils with which we might contend. I suppose the Good Lord figured that at this stage of our lives we’d have better sense than to do certain things – like play touch football with children and grandchildren. On a recent Thanksgiving, I did. And I’m “thank-ful” to … [Read more...]

  Born on a Mountaintop in Tennessee Greenest State in the Land of the Free Raised in the Woods so he Knew Every Tree Kilt him a “B’ar” when he was only three.   Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier   People of today’s generation have no concept of the impact that Davy Crockett had back in the 1950s. Star Wars and Harry Potter don’t come close.  … [Read more...]

Children today don’t need a Guardian Angel. Who needs angels when you have two over-protective parents that monitor each breath, public schools that inspect your lunch bags for trans-fats and a nanny-state government that requires seat belts and helmets when a youngster pulls up a chair to the kitchen table. But Boomers certainly needed Guardian Angels – a whole flock of them. It’s a wonder any … [Read more...]

  The hardest part of the day for many Boomers is finding their car in the parking lot. It’s not like the old days where you simply parallel parked in front of the store you were shopping and then went inside. When you finished, you knew exactly where your car would be. Life today is full of mega-parking lots and shopping centers on multiple levels, and every car in the lot is grey. If … [Read more...]