Happy Independence Day

I hope everybody has a great day. One of my favorite July 4th celebrations was in 1976, the bicentennial. On a lark (or perhaps it was a inebriated neighborhood party), our street decided to enter a float in the bicentennial parade. We'd be competing against businesses and established organizations like the VFW and Shriners. The photo above shows my wife and son standing in front of our 1st Place float. (Hey, come on, it wasn't the Rose Parade.) Great memories. It drew the neighborhood together and we had a rowdy celebration with all the BBQ grills gathered in one back yard with kids running around everywhere.

If you want to read about an even older celebration, here is a description of the Independence Day gala in Philadelphia during the Constitutional Convention.  Before the snarky comments arrive, I wasn't actually at that celebration. At least, not physically. I did kinda visit when I wrote the piece.

Happy 4th of July. 

Happy Birthday Grandpa

My best birthday gift. Click here to see the full video.

Birthdays Used to be Fun

Arthur: “Do you want anything?”

Hobson: “I want to be younger.”

Today is my birthday. My present is a trip to Hawaii to surf in calm waves in warm water and visit my brother and his wife. It will be fun. The trip, that is, not necessarily my birthday. When I was a kid, I wanted birthdays to come sooner because with enough of them I could become a freewheeling adult. I discovered adulthood didn't include as many privileges as I expected, but birthdays remained great fun. At least for a few decades. Now ... not so much. Instead of blowing a party horn, I catalogue my aches and pains. In truth, I’m grateful to be relatively fit, with a great family and loving wife. 

My biggest problem is remembering to get up from my writing chair to get some exercise. I become so engrossed with my characters, I sometimes have to cause a distasteful dispute so I can leave them to their own devices. When I return from a long walk or an hour of surfing, my characters’ tempers have abated enough that I can get on with the story. I know you think I’m kidding, but …

I'll leave you with my life’s goal. I want to be the first person over one hundred years old to break the four-minute mile. This may sound tough, but I intend to train for an entire decade to achieve this goal. It will be hard and consuming work. Thank goodness my ninetieth birthday is still far off in the future.