My birthday means I’ve made some additions to both my literary and music libraries. One of the volumes I got to spend a little time with tonight is Ten Poems to Change Your Life by Roger Housden. The second poem is one by the marvelous Spanish poet, Antonio Machado called “Last Night as I was…

The first event of my birthday was Ginger giving me a t-shirt that read: “fifty is the new thirty.” I then had a wonderful breakfast with Ginger and both sets of our parents at Percy’s Place in Plymouth, a wonderful breakfast cafe that boasts the biggest breakfast menu in New England and has good biscuits…

I’m minutes away from completing my fiftieth year on the planet. I would like to anticipate that moment by paying homage to those with whom I share a birthday: 1673 Ahmed III 23rd sultan (Turkey, 1703-30) 1745 John Jay diplomat (NY-Governor) 1792 Alexandros Ypsilanti Greek resistance fighter 1805 Henry Wells founder (American Express Company &…

Earlier this week, Ginger asked me about buying ice cream for a Sunday School special event. She needed restaurant sized quantities, so I went to by East Coast Paper, a local restaurant supply, and ordered three gallons each of vanilla and chocolate for Ginger to pick up Saturday morning. Last night, on my way home…

Journeying through Advent has a bit of a Hansel and Gretel flair for me because I feel like I spend my day looking for a crumb or two to let me know where I am on the journey and to remind me where I’m going – which reminds me of a story. A number of…

I’ve decided to do my best to write each day in Advent as part of my journey to the manger. I ‘m not making any promises about length or coherence on Friday and Saturday nights. On most any evening, part of my practice before I write is to do a bit of reading on several…

We put up our Christmas tree tonight. Seventeen years of Christmases together and Ginger and I have some definite traditions and patterns. Since both of us have sinus issues with real trees, we’ve always had an artificial one. My job is to assemble the tree and string the lights, which always means we’re a day…

I spend a lot of my day at the restaurant getting ready. In kitchen jargon, we call it “prepping.” Much of what we have to prepare are the things we use everyday: sliced tomatoes and red onions for the burgers, thin sliced sweet onions for the onion rings, chopped romaine lettuce for the salads, the…

I was in and out of my car all day, running errands and hearing snippets about the confirmation hearings for Robert Gates to be Secretary of Defense. The language of both the questions and the answers had to do with winning and losing, with force and power, and with doing something quickly. After all, it’s…