Category: Feel Good Story

Get A KICK Out Of This Story…

Sometimes I look back on my younger years and I become nostalgic for the past. During my youth, I never travelled much or wandered far from the comforting confines of Northern New Brunswick but it continues to surprise me how full a life one can have, even living in such a small environment. And no environment could have given me as much as my home. Here’s one of the memories drifting to the surface of my psych. Buckle up…

This story takes me all the way back to 1989. I was 11-years old and my older brother had another two years of life ahead of him. My health was waning and life wasn’t going so well for me. Increased insulin-resistance and the development of ulcers in my stomach saw me hospitalized almost as much as my brother. in fact, we often shared a hospital room together. I’ll let you decide whether that’s cool or just a little bit sad. But I digress…

I was in 7th grade and we had oral presentation to give in class on a topic of our choosing. As was usually my choice, I spoke about Type-1 Diabetes, its causes and how it’s treated. Because of the number of students, we had two separate 7th grade classes; 7A and 7B. I was in 7A. Didn’t mean I was smarter or further ahead. I think it went by alphabetical order. Anyway, on the third day of presentations when we were all done, the teacher announced that someone from 7B would be sharing his presentation with us.

In walked my friend Guillaume. My Sensei’s son. Friend and adoptive brother. He was asked by the teacher to share the same presentation as he had to his class in exchange for bonus points. Considering she found the presentation worthy enough to share with another class, I had difficulty grasping WHY he would need bonus points, but whatever kept me from doing actual work was fine by me, back then.

Guillaume went on to give a presentation about Uechi Ryu karate, how long he had been practicing it and the benefits it provided him in life, thus far. He capped off his presentation with a demonstration of a form, or kata, which I now know as well. While the rest of the class was busy snickering at the movement and making fun of him, I was captivated by what I was seeing. The flow, the movement, the gracefulness… My eyes were open to the potential of what I was seeing.

It was at this point that I had called Guillaume at home and asked about class times and location. I joined the same month. I had tried other styles and attempted different things, but none struck quite as deep in my soul as Uechi Ryu did. I would go on to study Uechi for the next 33 years. It would ultimately save my life and help forge me into the person I am today. All of that from a simple ten-minute presentation in class. Nice.

Our instincts provide for more than we usually assume. And as the old saying goes, we often find our destiny on the road we least thought to travel. All things happen for a reason. If the teacher hadn’t asked Guillaume to share his presentation with out class, I might have never been exposed to Uechi Ryu. I likely never would have joined. And my health may have continued to deteriorate to an uncorrectable level. Who knows? I certainly don’t. I just know to appreciate life as it’s been offered and continue to live life with no regrets. ☯️

Guilt No More…

I think it’s safe to say that Diabetes is one of those “invisible” illnesses. After all, if one were to see me walking down the street, one would never be able to KNOW that i have Diabetes. Contrary to what you may see joked about on mainstream media and in the movies, having Diabetes doesn’t unilaterally mean that one is obese, missing toes or eats too much candy and junk food. Granted there ARE some like that, but it isn’t the standard. Most people don’t see what’s happening below the surface and they don’t realize the effort and control it takes just to get through the day. Some of that has led to some extremely uncomfortable situations throughout my life.

When you reach a certain age, you start to contemplate your life. And that isn’t a bad thing. Although I’ve grown to accept and acknowledge that I live my life without regret, contemplation is a completely different thing. My life is pretty awesome; I can’t deny that. To live with any regret means that I wouldn’t want my life being what it is now, and that just wouldn’t be true. But like anyone else, I’ve made some mistakes and have hurt people along the way with the choices I’ve made. And that’s what I’ve been contemplating.

For the most part, I was a pretty stubborn kid during my teen years. This cost me a lot, when i consider friendships, relationships and even experiences. Always a bit of a loner, I went it alone and dealt with the many ups and downs that Diabetes caused without ever sharing what I was going through with anyone. That includes my parents. Given the significant lack of control I had over my blood sugars, I tended to be cold, distant and a bit of an overall asshole. I know what you may be thinking: how is that different from how I am now? Well, first of all, fuck you! Second of all, I’m going to explain…

Wildly varying blood sugars can cause all sorts of behavioural issues, including fatigue, depression, mood swings and unprovoked anger. This didn’t bode well for friendships and relationships. And wouldn’t you know it, I just HAD to be going through it during my teen years when i was trying to be a typical teen… have friends, date girls and go out and have fun. None of that was conducive to good blood sugar control. I think back to the number of times I had to bail on friends and just stay home because In felt like absolute shit due to my Diabetes.

This doesn’t even begin to cover how much of a dick I was to girls I dated (NSFW pun fully intended). My mood swings and behavioural issues due to Diabetes made for some pretty harsh treatment from me. Couple that with the typical torrential wave of teenage hormones I was subjected to that just made all of it worse. This led to some pretty in-depth guilt, which cause some of the aforementioned depression. Unlike most teenagers of my generation, I never touched drugs or alcohol. In fact, as I’ve written in previous posts, I only had my first beer when i was 23 years old. So I had to ride the guilt wave with none of the safety or floatation devices that most people have.

Even now, knowing what I know and having the control that I do, my time is better preferred sitting at home relaxing with my wife than making plans and trying to leave the house. I keep a pretty tight reign on my Diabetes nowadays and since absolutely everything tends to affect blood sugars, I also keep a tight reign on how late I stay up and how I spend time outside my house. But I no longer feel the guilt that comes with the issues I faced during my teen years. As an adult, i recognize that my life and family come first. And there can be no guilt in that. The rest of the world will simply need to understand that. ☯️

Creamy Dill Dip…

Alright, so despite the fact I often harsh on the negative aspects of social media (despite the fact I operate on several platforms), I have to give credit where credit is due. Social media can be extremely useful in reconnecting with people from your past that you DIDN’T walk away from, intentionally. Enter: several of my high school classmates. In the past year, I’ve reconnected and friended several of the people I graduated from high school with.

One of those friends shared a meal that she prepared that included salmon and a homemade, creamy dill sauce. I’m a big fan of salmon and fish in general (Hello, Maritimer over here!) so I was taken. But what also caught my attention was the dill sauce. My entire household is a fan of dill. We have dill powder for our popcorn, we use dill-flavoured dill dip with our chips and include actual dill in many of our recipes. Not least of which is the fact that we eat dill pickles. Because, dill pickles. But I digress…

My successful dip

I was curious to the point where I asked her for her recipe, which she generously provided. I’m usually a bit leery about trying new recipes as I’m no Gordon Ramsay, by any means. But the recipe was super simple and only took about ten minutes. As it was shared with me, so shall I share it with you. Here we go:

  • 1/4 cup of mayonnaise;
  • 1/4 cup of sour cream;
  • 3 tablespoons of dried dill;
  • 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar;
  • 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard;
  • garlic salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all those ingredients in non particular order into a small bowl, whisk until everything is combined and go to town! My friend made a point of mentioning that she doesn’t usually use actual measurements and eyeballs everything to taste. I don’t have that level of skill. One thing I will mention is that after two tablespoons of dill, I started to panic and think three would have been too much. It wouldn’t have been. It definitely could have used the added dill kick. But it was definitely delicious and I’ve used it with chips, wings and on fish. Absolutely delicious.

Like anything else someone with Type-1 Diabetes consumes, one should be mindful of portions, carbohydrate counts and proper monitoring of one’s blood sugars. But this dip is quite versatile and goes with SO many different foods. It’s definitely worth a try, if you’re looking for something new. Food for thought (pun fully intended)… ☯️

A Bit Of Bruised Legs Never Killed Anyone…

On the weekends I’ve been trying to get out with my boys and do a bit more stuff. With the world somewhat returning to normal (or whatever the hell PASSES for normal) I think it’s important to try and do things that allow my family and I some enjoyment without necessarily crossing boundaries or taking unnecessary risks. For example, I’ll take my family to local things that allow us to get out of the house and interact with the world but I don’t know that we’re quite ready to travel anywhere significant. Given the state of the world, I definitely wouldn’t be FLYING anywhere. But I digress…

I’ve come to realize that something I don’t get to do a lot is spend time with my youngest son, Alexander. Currently two years old, he isn’t quite a COVID baby (born into the pandemic) but he’s pretty close, having been born about six months before the world locked itself down for the first time. As a result, being around scores of people and doing things outside of the home or our property isn’t common place for him. Further, my routine usually sees me get home from work, help with supper/dishes, potentially go to karate if there’s class and come home to shower and occupy the oldest until I put him to bed. If I’m lucky, I’ll have forty minutes to an hour of time with the youngest before he gets tossed into his crib for the night. And that hour usually involves my wife and I binge-watching something, since it’s also the last hour before we submit ourselves to the sandman.

That’s why last Sunday, I decided it was important to spend some actual time with Alexander. Rambunctious and energetic, he has all the telltale signs of an angry redhead, including a mane of bright, red locks. So he doesn’t slow down much nor does he have patience for anything that doesn’t align with his thoughts and opinions. Sounds a bit like someone I know… I brought him to a local kids’ indoor climbing gym, where I thought he could spend some energy and hopefully have a kick-ass nap afterwards. I should honestly know better than to try and predict what one of MY children will do…

Father/Son Day…

The outing started easily enough, with Alex being super excited at getting dressed and leaving the house. He had no idea what we were headed out to do. We filled up the tank (I had to remortgage the house in order to do so) and headed to the indoor park. Even as I paid and got our boots and jackets off, I don’t think he understood where we were. He could hear children screaming and playing, so he knew something fun was around the corner. When he finally came out into the main area, I heard an audible gasp from him as he saw the structure and all the play areas available.

The funny part is, he’s been at that location before. Granted, he was a bit younger and what babies can and can’t remember is a whole different story. Parents are allowed on the structures, which is good. It’s the size of a warehouse and he could easily get lost or hurt within its confines. We’d climb up to the top level together, which would involve me testing the limits of my knees’ cartilage. Then we’d go down a slide that takes us all the way down to the bottom of the structure. Loads of fun, even for a 210-pound kid like me. After a couple of runs, he decided to stop me at the bottom and wanted to do it by himself. Fair enough, I can respect a bit of independence.

I watched as he climbed the structure, carefully choosing his steps and being mindful not to fall. Then, he’d choose from three available slides and come whipping down, totally excited and pleased with himself. He’d get a high five and a hug and climb up again. Wash, rinse and repeat. I suddenly became one of the drone parents who just sat there and waited while the children played. But he was having a blast, which is the important part. It’s amazing how a constant, repetitive action can be so much fun to children. As adults, we call that shit work.

Going Down All By Himself Like A Big Boy…

One of the side effects of living a mostly reclusive existence over the past couple of years is Alex’s low tolerance for other people. If someone else has a toy he wants or is using a slide he wants to get on, he’ll be quick to show his displeasure; usually with a show of force. You may be thinking, “Most kids are like that…” And this may be true but he takes it to a whole other level. He’s also not very tolerant of other people’s noise. This is kind of ironic, given how much noise he makes himself. But he was having fun, we were out of the house and we were able to spend some time together. Nathan can get pretty clingy and it’s pretty hard doing anything with Alex without Nathan trying to interject.

As with most things in life, all good things eventually must end and this outing was no exception. Alex soon started to bump into everything and BE bumped into by everyone else. Because there always has to be someone to spoil others’ fun, there were two larger boys who were chasing each other around the play area. Although this is expected and there’s no issue with this, these two boys were bumping into everyone and even shoving other kids out of the way. I was correcting these kids and asking them to be careful of the smaller kids, since I didn’t know who their parents were or where they were.

Inevitably, it finally happened. While Alex was trotting along towards a corner, the two larger boys came around said corner and knocked him clean off his feet. Since the floor is carpeted concrete, it stands to reason that it hurt and Alex started crying like someone stole the last curly fry off his lunch tray. I was understandably pissed and I started berating these two little bastards for inflicting harm upon my second-born. Alex clung to me like his life depended on it and one of the fathers finally showed up and started giving me crap for scolding his kid. MAYBE IF YOU’D BEEN WATCHING YOUR KID… (breathes deeply to calm himself).

We left after that, especially since I noticed that the boys carried on as though nothing had happened. Besides, we had been there for a couple of hours and had loads of fun. He was starting to get tired and was probably headed towards nap time. Time flies by far too fast… I remember doing such things with Nathan when he was a toddler and now he’s a grown kid! Those baby years go by far too fast. It’s important to enjoy them while we can. Food for thought… ☯️

A Little Positivity Never Hurt Anyone…

Some of my posts in recent weeks have been pretty negative and morose, considering some personal matters that have been happening in my life. That’s why I felt that when there was something positive I could write about (including my post about the Batman from last Tuesday) I should make a point of seeing it happen. This is where my story about last weekend comes in…

My wife and I are typically homebodies, preferring to stay at home and watch a streaming service or game on our devices than venture out into the outside world. Most of this is by virtue of the colder weather keeping us indoors as neither of us is a fan of the cold. But the recent milder weather and temperatures reaching into the positive has seen us walk outside into the sunshine more than usual.

Last Friday was a bit of a crap shoot, considering you may have read about what happened to my son Nathan in yesterday’s post. I left work on Friday morning and brought him to the doctor’s office for an eye infection. By the time I got home and actually sat in front of my computer, my work day was almost done. My evening saw me playing with my kids and sitting to watch some television with my wife. Not a bad way to spend the evening and pretty typical of what we do.

That’s when my wife suggested we go to the movies. This was pretty exciting for me, because I had been wanting to see the Batman. We chose a 4 pm viewing, since it was a 3-hour movie and we didn’t want to get home at a ridiculously late hour. We spent the morning cleaning the house as a family with all the windows open, allowing the cool air to circulate through the house. Once the house was all clean, I pre-ordered a pizza for the boys and the babysitter, which would arrived around 4:30 pm while we were gone.

We made our way to the theatre and enjoyed some Chucky Cheese style games, including shooting hoops and playing air hockey. Turns out my wife is a little hellcat at air hockey and kicked my ass twice. We watched the movie, which I reviewed in a previous post. So I won’t get into it. After the movie, we went to an eatery that specializes in poutines and ordered a couple of large bad boys, which we brought home to consume in front of the television.

The boys in bed and our poutines in front of us, we ate until we were ready to fall into a carb-induced Conan and went to bed. It was a fantastic night and loads of fun. So much fun that we decided that we would bring the boys to the theatre to use our remaining game tokens the following day. We had a good handful but I brought an extra 10-dollar bill in order to ensure everyone got to try some of the games.

On Sunday morning, I checked for the theatres hours of operation, which were erroneously shown as being 11:30 am. We left the house and ran a couple of errands before making our way to the theatre and parking about ten minutes before the time they were SUPPOSED to open. It was only then that we found out that they don’t open until noon. Thanks a bunch, fuckers! You know how easy it is to get a screaming toddler back into his car seat when he’s finally been released? Not easy at all…

We took a drive and came back at noon and everyone had a blast. Some mild issues with losing tokens in one of the air hockey tables was quickly rectified by a staff member who compensated us with some extra tokens. Nathan and Alex had a blast. You know a toddler has had some fun when he breaks down crying at the prospect of leaving. We got home and enjoyed some family nap time before having supper. Then, since it was Sunday night and our week was about to begin anew, it was baths and showers all around before getting the boys to bed.

My wife and I capped off our night by watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure of all things. Definitely a fantastic weekend and loads of fun was had. I know that with everything going on in the world right now, it can sometimes be hard to remember that happiness still exists. But our household definitely recognized that fact, this weekend. I don’t have any photos or documentation of our excursions. Wanna know why? Because I was too damned busy having fun to take photos. Now if only this mild weather could hold and keep melting the snow, I might be able to get my bike out… ☯️

A Review: The Batman (Mild Spoilers)

I grew up in what on might call a “comic book-rich environment…” Alright, alright, I’m a self-professed nerd and freaking proud of it! I dabbled in a little bit of everything, including DC and Marvel as well as many of the more obscure, unknown comic labels. Despite this affinity to the drawn stories, I was always more of a Superman guy than a Batman guy. Maybe it was because I’ve always dreamed of flight as my preferred superpower. But I digress…

The 1980’s were a pretty big decade for me, having reached my teens and fully grasping the concept of the superhero genre. It also came with 1989’s “Batman,” which starred Michael Keaton as the titular hero. Considering some of the other movies I’d seen him in (not least of which was Beetlejuice) I didn’t think the movie would be much good. Although it won’t be a popular opinion, I never cared for the goofy, off-beat Adam West version of Batman. But i was proven wrong as Keaton not only did a good job and reprised the role in a sequel.

The next couple of movies weren’t really worth their salt, including bat-nipples and over-the-top neon lights and glowing weaponry and shit. It didn’t really fit with the comic-based concept of the Dark Knight. Then 2005 came along and saw Christian Bale stepping into the cape and cowl. I LOVED the background story angle and the flexibility and realism behind this version of the hero and through that Bale did a phenomenal job in all three movies, even though many diehard coming fans would disagree.

When Ben Affleck came along next to take up the role, I believe the first words out of my m ouch were “what the fucking fuck???” This wasn’t a romcom or something out of the “view askew-iverse…“ This was the fucking Batman! I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of this guy becoming a superhero. but he did it. And damn, he did it well.

Based on my reaction to Ben Affleck, I’m sure you can only imagine what my reaction to the actor chosen for this year’s “The Batman.” Now don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the Twilight movies (And I say that without the presence of my wife forcing me to. They were great movies and I enjoyed the overall storyline). But when I heard a few years ago that they had chosen Robert Pattinson to play Batman, I could imagine hearing the sound of every brick in heaving, shitting itself at once.

Are you kidding me? Some skinny, emo-looking goofball with far too much hair is supposed to play a fearsome, muscled hero who uses fear as a weapon? When all people can think about when they look at him is how pretty he sparkles when he steps out into the sun? I was saddened and disappointed and actually had no intentions of seeing the movie. Then, the trailer came out…

Without providing spoilers on the movie, the trailer I saw involved a gang beating on an innocent civilian and they stop as they hear footsteps coming from the dark. Then, Batman walks out and proceeds to beat the living shit out of the entire gang. It was epic. It was amazing. AND, it was realistic. The Bat took some hits as opposed to being this all-destructive force that couldn’t be touched. Much the same style as how Superman took hits in the Man of Steel, Pattinson was now on my radar.

My wife and I don’t make a point of going to the movies much. It isn’t because we don’t enjoy movies, per se. rather, it’s because the cost versus reward just ins’t worth NOT waiting for it to come to one of our streaming services. But last weekend we both decided that the Batman was a movie we’d both enjoy seeing in the theatres, so we hired a babysitter and made our way out into the world to see this movie, which sat at just under three hours.

Again, without giving away TOO much, the movie started off with the storyline right off the hop. No origin story, no flashbacks. This is a big deal for fans who are exhausted at the concept of seeing Bruce Wayne’s parents get shot in an alley in EVERY BATMAN MOVIE. The parents’ death is occasionally reference but is never shown. The action is realistic in the sense that the hero isn’t using an array of unrealistic and advanced weaponry that has somehow never been thought of by others. There’s also a more realistic tinge to this film as Batman butts heads with local law enforcement, despite befriending Jim Gordon, whom he’s connected with in every comic and movie.

I don’t want to give away too much, despite having warned of some spoilers. It’s always more fun to see the movie for oneself and enjoy seeing it without knowing what’s coming. But if you’re looking for action, solid storyline and realism, the Batman was definitely worth the watch. And don’t bother sitting around for extra after-credit scenes; there was one, but it was nothing pertinent. Better to look it up online than sit through the credits. Enjoy!☯️

Happy St. Paddy’s

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!In all honesty, I don’t believe I have Irish roots but one really never knows. My father was adopted and it’s thought that our background through his adoptive family included some Scottish and British. My father has been VERY red-headed throughout his entire life, as was I until about five or six years’ old when my hair darkened closer to my mother’s, so who knows? Without wanting to be stereotypical with the redhead thing, people get surprised by their ancestry. But I digress…

Saint Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday (obviously) held on March 17th that was originally observed to celebrate Saint Patrick, one of the foremost patron saints of Ireland, and the introduction of Christianity in Ireland, In recent times, the day is observed as a way of celebrating the Irish culture in general and usually sees people enjoying parties, festivals, parades and especially the wearing of green clothing. And for anyone who has better information on this holiday, please feel free to hit me up in my Contact Me link and educate me. I’m basically going on what I was told during my childhood and some snippets I’ve read online.

Here in Canada, we have one of the longest-running yearly festival for St. Patrick’s Day on Montreal. My home Province of New Brunswick also sees St. Patrick’s Day as a way of celebrating for an entire week. one can usually see a host of fun activities such as drinking green beer and enjoying traditional Irish meals. As you can see from the photo above, I’ve opted to observe by wearing a green tie to work. That’s about as far as my observance goes since my partying days are long behind me (and because they never existed).

Here’s to St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re out and about today and observing the holiday through some “colourful” celebrations, be safe, be reasonable and make certain you get home in one piece. ☘️

Silver Linings For My Dark Clouds…

Despite all the sad, morbid topics I’ve covered in recent days, last week was that time again; I had a scheduled appointment with my endocrinologist. It seemed like September wasn’t that long ago but here we are, six months later! You may recall my post from a couple of weeks ago complaining about the wait times at blood labs and such… This appointment is the result of that blood work.

Visiting my endocrinologist is usually a mixed bag for me. Although eternally grateful for introducing me to the concept of carb counting and getting me on an insulin pump, my doctor is also the one who provides the results and discusses concerns surrounding all things Diabetic. So I never quite know what I might be in for.

One big issue is the uploading of my pump. The doctor’s office requires the uploading of my insulin pump into a database that they can access. Even though this should be a pretty straightforward thing to do, I almost always seem to have issues when I try. So this time, I got smart and uploaded the pump a week prior to my appointment in the event I had issues I had to work through. I was going to upload again the night before until I realized I had foolishly left my link meter at my office, which I required in order to tether the pump to my computer.

I figured, no harm, no fouls, right? Wrong. I was quickly told to surrender my pump so that the admin could upload the last week of readings. I found this a bit tedious since they already had six months of readings. How much of a difference could the past seven days make? Que sera, I was on their time so I turned it over. Maybe I’m just bitter because she also weighed me and announced I had gained two pounds. But I digress…

The past six months have been a bit rough for me, with losing out on one karate school, which messed up my fitness routine, to losing coverage for CGM, which messed up my blood sugar routine, to starting a new karate school, which messed up my fitness routine to getting back on CGM, which will hopefully fix many of my readings… See where I’m goin’ with this? Basically, i knew my blood sugars would be all over the place with some rather significant highs to explain.

When my doctor walked in, we discussed all these issues and he indicated it explained a lot in terms of what my readings showed. He was glad I was taking steps to fix things but he also made a point of saying that despite some of the high readings, I managed to hold my A1C at a reasonable level of 7.3, which is down from a higher reading back in September. I was pleasantly surprised.

He added some further sweetness to a not-so-bitter pill by showing me how my renal function was back to normal, blood pressure was normal, blood circulation and neurological systems were good and I apparently still have the heart of a horse (and no, I don’t mean enlarged, wise ass!). The only caveat to all the good news is that my potassium, of all things, appears to be slightly higher than normal, which will be fixed with a temporary water pill and some changes to my overall diet. I can live with that.

By the time we had reached the end of my appointment, my doctor once again called me one of his most boring patients, since I presented no challenge. He further went on to explain that if I continued on the path I was walking in terms of maintaining Diabetes control, when the time came that died, I would be one of his only patients to die WITH Diabetes instead of dying BECAUSE of Diabetes. I may just get that tattooed on my lower back…

Did I mention that my cholesterol is also down by a full point? I’m sure there’s more but I was basically gushing from the positivity so much that I think I missed some of it. In a current world where there’s so much wrong and suffering, it was nice to have some positivity for a change. AND it justifies all the hard work I put in, maintaining my blood sugars and my fitness. This is something we can all do. One your organs fail or you’re on death’s bed, it’s too late. Better to start improving now so you can appreciate the results later. Food for thought…☯️

Modern Day Amenities…

Nathan often watches me as I work on my social media platforms. he’ll usually watch cartoons on his device while he does, especially since watching me write does nothing for him. But while doing some work on my YouTube channel (FYI, I have a YouTube channel, “The Blogging Buddhist.” GO SUBSCRIBE!!!), I usually take the time to watch a video or two afterward. You would think that my preference would be martial arts or fighting videos. And in truth, I DO watch some of those. But i also indulge in a lot of SNL and MadTV clips. Mostly because I enjoy laughing at stupid stuff.

One of the things I do enjoy watching is a channel with creepy stories called “Mr. Ballen.” He’s an ex-marine who tells creepy stories on a variety of topics. I’ve also been watching a variety of scary stories from a few different channels. It’s particularly entertaining late at night when it’s gotten dark out or the wind is blowing. Anyway, Nathan has creeped around a bit and has listened to some of the scary stories. You’d think that a 7-year old would be creeped out by scary stories. Not this kid; he’s become obsessed with them. I know some would probably argue the point that he’s a bit young to be watching scary videos… Actually, there’s never anything shown but a forest background or dim-lit house. It’s an oral telling of a scary story; no different than reading a book.

Some good has come out of it, as well. He absolutely LOVES restoration videos. There’s a particular channel where the author buys rusted out antique toys or items, takes them apart and restores them to a new state. One of the last ones he watched a was a rusted, seized pocket watch. Watching the restoration process was fantastic. The amount of work and the steps involved in taking something old and turning it into something new, thereby proving that all things can still have use, if one is willing to work to make it happen, was wonderful to watch.

Although sitting one’s child in front of a screen is not the best way to occupy their time, I have to admit that it’s been a way for Nathan and I to share something specific. We shared a fascination with creepy stories as well as a love for restoration. There are worse ways for a father and son to spend an hour or two. Food for thought…☯️

International Woman’s Day

All the way back in 1910, a German socialist champion of women’s rights proposed that March 8th be set aside every year as International Women’s Day. It eventually became recognized as a globally observed holiday by the United Nations in the late 1970’s. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure and benefit of being surrounded by many strong, wonderful women. From my mother, who has spent her life caring for her family and children and still does, the women who have carried a badge to help protect the public, all the way to my lovely wife, whom we can all agree needs to be tough as nails in order to put with me after all these years. Here’s to all the women out there! ☯️