Enough Time

For years, I had miserable, long commutes, the worst on public transportation and others almost as bad on traffic-clogged, nightmarish highways like Route 3, both North and South.
The average commute in Massachusetts is well under half an hour, and this week, I’ve been reminded what a difference in lifestyle a “normal” round-trip to work can mean.

Continue reading Enough Time

Swimming Pool, Cookout, Croquet – Sunday with the Grandkids

Trifecta this past weekend, all three grandkids stayed over on Saturday, into Sunday evening.
They got to swim in the across-the-street neighbor’s pool and play with the next door neighbors’ two boys.
In the meantime, we completed a couple of rounds of croquet and had a cookout, pretty much staying close to home.
The tears when the ice cream man failed to show up on Sunday afternoon turned to smiles of delight when we stopped at a local convenience store and got the same treats, for probably half the cost.

Continue reading Swimming Pool, Cookout, Croquet – Sunday with the Grandkids

So, Why Aren’t We Great?

My son Peter is a thirty-something great. He has a bio the length of your arm, including numerous publications and maybe a speaking engagement or two.
He’s well known in his professional circle and perhaps by the time he’s our age, could be one of those craggy savants with multiple addresses.
He already lives on Cape Cod, so all and he and his wife have to do is acquire a second residence somewhere else. That’s not the usual order of things, but it could work, and the way the prices are around here, they’ve already passed the toughest hurdle.

Continue reading So, Why Aren’t We Great?

Great Escape

I live in a neighborhood of people who have serious problems with alcohol.
That wouldn’t be so bad if it were the Noel Coward variety, but my neighbors are neither witty nor urbane nor even kind when they drink. At this hour – 10:37 on a Sunday night – they are still making enough noise to raise the dead.
So, when I found out that there were going to be not one, but two parties this weekend, I decided to get the hell out of Dodge.

Continue reading Great Escape

Onward and Onward

One of the long-term neighbors (the description is relative, Cape Cod is a high-transition area) are on their way to what they hope will be a better life in Houston.
I’m returning to the world of regular employment in exactly two weeks.
Seems like change is hammering its way through the hot, muggy August air.

Continue reading Onward and Onward