In three days it will be Christmas, a special time in our house. Christmas is a celebration of family, a time of presents and cheer and hope. It is also a time, in my particular house, when I and my daughter set out once again to test the scientific theory of Santa Claus. In my… Read More »
What do reindeer and little children know that we don’t? Tonight is Christmas eve, and my daughter Caitlin and I are going to sort out this Santa Claus business once and for all. There was a time, only a few very brief years ago, when all three of my daughters believed in Santa Claus. But,… Read More »
On Halloween we should be grateful for our night-flying friends, not scared of them. This Sunday is Halloween, a major holiday in our family. My three girls will dress in costumes that amuse and delight rather than scare, and collect more candy than is good for them. But when they come home that night, they… Read More »
Today, on Saint Patrick’s day, my mind turns not to shamrocks and green beer, but to snakes. My mother, a wiry Canadian with four Irish grandparents, was more Irish on Saint Patrick’s day than anyone born on the Emerald Isle. She died a few years ago at 84, but it is her voice I hear… Read More »
On Valentine’s Day, there may be a subtle chemistry afoot. I can remember with great clarity the first time I noticed a girl. I was fourteen years old and her name was Karen Hutchens. The puppy love of a raw adolescent boy is a powerful force, and gave me no peace that year. I used… Read More »
Sometimes the road to romance is long. When I was a teen I dreaded St. Valentines day, as I knew I wouldnt get a Valentine from a girl. There were plenty of girls around, but I didnt have the foggiest idea how to approach one, and lacked the courage to myself send a valentine to… Read More »
My mother, Irish to the core, never saw a leprechaun, although she always believed in them. To her way of thinking, leprechauns are a part of the soul of Ireland, not to be found in any other country. So when she visited Ireland in her later years, she went to County Tipperary to see if… Read More »
Yesterday my family and inlaws devoured a 24 pound Thanksgiving dinner turkey. Every year we eat a big bird. Perhaps because of my major contributions to the devouring, I often dream of the turkey the night after Thanksgiving. In these dreams I imagine myself fleeing from a massive bird, the turkey literally shoving forest undergrowth… Read More »
