I’ve often had a hard time buying gifts for the holidays. It’s never a problem when the time comes to give; the highlight of my season is usually watching people’s reactions to what I’ve chosen for them, or more often what my wife has chosen. In that moment, if the recipient loves the gift, it’s […]
Be honest, now–did you sing it in your head as you read it? I did as I wrote it. A couple of years ago, my wife and son passed a Salvation Army Santa on their way out of a store. It was before Thanksgiving, so when my son asked if he could make a donation, […]
When I was a kid, one of our traditions was to go over to the neighbor’s house on Christmas Eve. They always had a real tree, and the only ornaments on it were candles. Real candles. It seemed like hundreds of them to me, but it was probably more like thirty or forty. They would […]
This can be a magical time of year for kids. And an exhausting time for their parents. If your kids are young enough they still believe in Santa Claus, you may spend your holidays maintaining the illusion: hiding presents, baking cookies to leave for him (and maybe a carrot or some celery for Rudolph), decorating […]
Most of us have been or will be in this situation sooner or later: newly married, or newly serious, we have to decide whose family to spend Christmas with. The question can lead to conversations every bit as awkward as yesterday’s office holiday party; after all, which of us wants to tell mother we’re not […]
Partridges don’t spend much time in pear trees. They’re ground-dwelling birds; they live, eat, lay their eggs, raise their families on the ground. They do roost in trees, climbing or flying up to escape from predators or to sleep. They can fly, but like pheasants and turkeys, they pretty much only do so in emergencies. […]
It’s a challenging time of year for lots of folks. The holidays can be a wonderful time: we take a few days off work, spend them with people we love and don’t get to see very often, eat and drink too much, give and receive gifts, rest, recharge, prepare for the new year. They can […]
Check out Our Lighter Side. I can’t decide whether this is courage or not. If you click the link, you’ll find an exchange unlike any you’ll find today, at least between a business and a customer: a fan–a season ticket holder, no less–wrote a letter to the Cleveland Browns organization in 1974 complaining, of all […]
Peter Scott – Telegraph. Crime isn’t what I usually think of when I think of courage. But this guy certainly had some cajones. I think it’s his sheer audacity that I find intriguing. He broke into rich people’s houses or hotel rooms, and if discovered, he would brazenly announce, “it’s only me,” or “everything’s all […]
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. – John Augustus Shedd, from here Most of us build our lives around what is safe and comfortable. A daily routine. A familiar route to work. We wake up at the same time, eat the same thing for breakfast, get […]