Some days I just want to be a kid again...

... playing in the dirt with my Tonka trucks, ignorant of bad men bent on bad deeds.

I was raised to believe...

...all people should be treated fairly;

That your neighbor's religion is his own business;

That freedom of speech doesn't include being downright hateful;

and that you should always help folk in need, whether they speak a different language than you or wear a kandura and ghutrah.

My old grandpa would always say, "Our differences are the spice of life. Shunning those differences is like eating Mac & Cheese without fish sticks and canned green beans."

Reading like a Hoss

I used to enjoy watching the news...

... but these days I just wanna buy a saddle, a straight shootin' gun, and see which way Lyle Lovett's old pony will run.

Holding on

The Summer of 2011 was hell.

Comparatively, the Summer of 2016 has been a picnic.

But still, I'm more than ready for this summer to pass into history -- especially since Autumn teased us with a 65-degree Sunday morning recently. It was so nice, I got up, fixed a cup of coffee, drank it out on the porch, and felt the seasons turn, turn, turn.

And then Sunday turned into Monday and Summer felt obligated to take a long curtain call.

Hey, Summer!

Get off the stage!

Have a Good Haiku

Sunday, what a lark;
rise, shine, work, love, show kindness,
forge a better world.

Thinking out loud

And now for some headline news:

The Cat Just Barfed On My Shoes

Morning Haiku

Coffee, porch, sunlit
trees, cool breeze and mockingbird
impersonations.

My old grandpa would say...

My Two Cents

Never watch a movie about two friends traveling around the world by motorcycle when you're on your lunch break at a job you should've quit three years ago.

The two friends didn't quit their jobs to go on such a grand adventure; they have jobs to go back to when they're done. You on the other hand would have no job to go back to, and would have to live on Ramen Noodles for the rest of your life.

NOTE TO SELF: Yes, an around-the-world journey by motorcycle seems like it would be the dream of a lifetime, but don't forget about the money it would take -- the money that you don't have.

So, and this is just my two cents, never watch such vile movies during your lunch break.

Better yet, just skip lunch.

So there I was

just kicking dirt,
mopping sweat
from brow and shirt,
when you walked by
all smiles and skirt;
a glass of cold iced tea.

She Said, He Said

I hate Thursdays

Thursday is sitting on a couch watching a reality TV show you hate and not being able to turn it off because you've lost the remote.