Music makes me happy. Even when it makes me sad. Because music points to feelings that are worth feeling and things that are worth thinking about. Music connects your present, when you listen today, to your past, when you first heard that song or a period of time. The music becomes a shortcut to memories. […]

I was born second. But not last. That honor goes to Michael, “The Unexpected.” Paul was the first and I was always okay with that. So that makes me the middle and I’m told that makes me a little messed up. They say middle children suffer from lack of attention. We weren’t the first. We […]

My grandfather, Norman Dumais, taught me many things. Mostly through the stories he told. Sometimes through direct advice. He taught what was important in life. Family. Doing the right thing. Being generous. Working hard. Working smart. Standing up for yourself. Going with the flow. That sort of cliche stuff that grandfathers think is important. One […]

One of my life’s goals is to be able to drive anywhere without thinking some snarky thought about one or several other drivers. I’ve written about this before, how we all should swallow a huge chill pill before we get behind the wheel, or do just about anything these days it seems. It’s not a […]

Boy and Girl get married but don’t have a ton of money for a honeymoon. So Boy and Girl decide to drive from a Great Lake to an ocean Atlantic. They stay at the only bed & breakfast on the entire Ocean City boardwalk. (Maryland, that is.) It’s a tiny little thing compared to the […]

Sometimes you can care too much about things that just don’t matter. Some examples: I play hockey in an over-30 league. It’s great exercise. It’s okay hockey. So the outcomes of these games are inconsequential. Yet somehow a player from the other team managed to get ejected from the game with under two minutes remaining […]

Meredith and I have different opinions on how a kitchen should be organized. But I’m not delirious about who gets to decide this, it’s the person who cooks. Which isn’t me usually. Unless it’s late night or when Mama is working an evening. Even then, there’s usually instructions on what to make and how to […]

To love and to explore. To fear and to hide. To inquire and to expand. To assume and to diminish. To unwind and to pause. To escalate and to accelerate. To appreciate and to give. To ignore and to spoil. To each of us belong all freedoms, to a point. To each of us all […]

There’s a home for every Christmas tree. That’s what I’ve come to realize. Even the ones you would never hoist home on your station wagon. There’s someone out there that thinks that tree is the perfect tree for their family Christmas. Just like that seat in the auditorium that you’d never sit in. Someone will […]