Years ago, when I was running all the time and entering a race or two every month, I’d look at the results and think, “boy, I can’t wait ’til I’m in the 60-plus age group.” While I was battling it out with miraculously strong runners my own age, those older guys had a lot...
It’s hard to believe that we’re almost to the end of October, which means we’re almost to the end of the year. The last few months have flown by, and I expect the next couple will go even faster. That means we’re in a race against time, to fit in as much of 2017...
As the Major League Baseball season winds down, we’re going to have a treat: a four-game series in St. Louis between the Cardinals and the division-leading and World Champion Chicago Cubs. My friends know that I don’t hate the Cubs like a lot of St. Louisans. Heck, I consider Chicago my second city, and...
Near the beginning of the worship service at my church—and I guess at many churches—there is the children’s sermon, in which all the kids are invited up to the front to sit around the minister for a brief message, after which the kids are escorted out to their Sunday School classes so the adults...
Don’t mind telling you, I’m pretty happy about how my reading year has gone so far. I’ve finished 14 books, well on my way to reaching my goal of 25 books and 100 short stories by the end of the year. AND, since every book I’ve read so far was written by a female...
I recently read Wait ‘Til Next Year, a memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin about her life growing up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. An interesting part of her childhood was that her father taught her how to keep score during baseball games, so that she could listen to the day games, keep score, and...
One week ago tonight, I was privileged to attend The Hoover Hootenanny in Asbury Park, N.J.. This was the sixth go-round for the Hootenanny, but, for one reason or another—mostly because they’re in Asbury Park and I live a thousand miles away in St. Louis—I was never able to attend before. But this year, with...
In this, my 58th year on the planet, I’m doing something for the very first time. Yesterday I drafted a team for a fantasy baseball league. Yes, I’ve managed to avoid taking part in fantasy leagues until now, even though a lot of friends and family members participate. I figured I never had time...
The election of our first woman president was a momentous occasion, and I decided to commemorate the milestone by reading a lot of books by female authors this year. Oh, wait… Turns out, we didn’t elect a woman president. (Well, WE did, but the Electoral College chose someone else, but that’s another story…) I’m...
These pictures were taken from the same spot on the Gateway Arch grounds, looking north toward the Arch. The top photo was taken in October 2014, just before workers started removing all of the rosehill ash trees that lined the walkways. The ash trees were threatened by the emerald ash borer, and for that and other...
