I awoke yesterday morning at about 7:15AM to a blanket of white and the sounds of snow throwers...another suburban moment.   I threw on jeans, T-shirt, heavy socks, a hoodie, ski jacket and boots. Got my gloves and trundled down into the garage to fire up my snow thrower and join the fun. After trying to start it by hand a couple of times I plugged it in and pressed the button for the electric starter. Within a couple of minutes it rumbled to life.  

Today is my Father's birthday and 18 years after his passing I am just starting to miss him. 

Why am I just starting to miss him? He was a "Damon Runyon" ("Guys and Dolls") character, emphasis on character, to the outside world. Although he was a tough SOB and especially hard on his first born son he is finally starting to get through to me. In the early 80s I wrote a painful piece about him and here are some excerpts which will impart some of his "flavor":  

What would you do if you had nothing to do ? I pondered the thought earlier today - New Year's Day - after friends with whom we were to spend the day had to change their plans because of a family emergency. I had been thinking about “unstructured” time as something to aspire to in the new year.  

I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year.  The last several years have brought numerous challenges to many, including myself.  I am anxiously looking forward to this upcoming year with optimism and anticipation.  I look at the upcoming year this way, not because I have a reason to expect success.  The first 18 years of my life consisted of great challenges.  The next 22-23 years of my life were incredibly lucky and blessed.  The last 4-5 have been frought with unfortunate circumstances.  

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read. My husband will tell you that I can easily go through, at least, one book per week. I also used to love going to the library and bookstores. There were certain bookstores, especially small used bookstores, where I used to be able to spend hours.

One of my favorite movies as a child is on TV every year around this time, Babes in Toyland, or as it is also titled The March of the Wooden Soldiers.  It was just on again the other day.  In this Laurel and Hardy film from the 1930's the hapless Stan figures out that they can use the 6 foot tall wooden soldiers to fight the evil Silas Barnabas and his Bogeymen who had come to attack the village.   As Stan and Ollie push the black buttons on each of the wooden soldiers, they all c

Hovercraft have been around for decades but they've always looked like they were bathtubs or those small kiddie pools with a big fan.   Well, here comes Mercier-Jones from Chicago with a really cool looking vehicle. This will give new meaning to "blowing into town." Imagine jumping in, whirring it up and floating down the highway. Now I won't have to replace my tires every 45,000 miles although parking could be a bit trying. Unless...you could float down into a spot.