Last spring my neighbor sent two of his heifers to another farm for a week of girls meeting guys. That’s no bull, but there were. Now – nine-months later – the ladies are due to give birth at any time. [A third joined the duo next door a few months ago. And by the looks of things she is also expecting, although I don’t know her delivery date.] Over
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[This article first appeared in 2004 when my daughter and I had a website together. I hope that new desktodirt readers will enjoy it, and that long-time followers will appreciate it as a classic. This piece will appear each year at Christmas and the holiday season.] Ah, the yearly ritual! The family would pack into the sedan and off we
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“Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into”, said Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel. [*] Ernie recently managed to get us into one of those situations. [Although in our case I am not always sure who is Stan and who is Oliver?] His nature is to go wherever his nose takes him: rabbits, field mice or rats, and grass hoppers
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For those of you who will be getting the victuals for the upcoming holiday it is never too early to offer preparation hints and menu suggestions. The source of this knowledge and experience is a book called The American Frugal Housewife, published in 1833. Now, don’t let the relatively ancient date put you off. There are certain things in fine
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Last Friday night began uneventfully. The fact that it was Friday the thirteenth had come to mind but only fleetingly. It was about ten p.m. and I had just finished washing dinner dishes. While starting my pre-sleep routine Ernie began barking towards the side door. Normally I would check outside to discover the source of his concern. This time I
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Texas summers can feel interminable; that’s because they are. Depending on the year, it is not unusual that they begin in April and continue until Halloween. That leaves five months of other. Fingers crossed, I think we have mercifully reached that climatic stage. My plea for relief from heat is because at heart I love the four seasons and cold;
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It is five-thirty a.m. My four-legged alarm clock – Ernie – is bed side, parked in the darkness on the floor staring at me. When I try to ignore him – which is most mornings – he lets out a nearly imperceptible whimper. That’s audible number one. Trying to hide is a fool’s task but I attempt it anyway. Predictably
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Asheville, North Carolina. Imagine walking around a downtown corner bumping into a Pinball Museum! And it’s not your normal Touch-It-On-Pain-of-Death museum; here visitors are expressly invited to play its relics. [See image below.] My reason for becoming animated by Asheville was that in the 1970’s I had one of these, an old wooden 1940’s model. [The image above is just
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After driving for ten hours you begin to think about a modest treat to end the day. And so it was last week returning to Texas from New York; an urgent family situation made the snap-trip necessary. The last time I checked – a few years ago – Italian was still the most numerous of ethnic food restaurants in America.
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We finished our early morning walk uneventfully. Getting ready to return inside Ernie stopped, looked at me and sat down. That’s his way of talking. In this case I wasn’t sure what he wanted since we had just done our jaunt. My first reaction was to give him a second go, but he took a few steps and re-seated himself on
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