Maybe I’m getting old.  I no longer feel the thrill of standing cheek by jowl with thousands of sweaty, sunburnt tourists in tribute to the end of summer; it just doesn’t seem as much fun as it was in youth.  Who knows?  Perhaps it’s just that I’m cranky thinking about the first day of school…. Read more »

There are times when we all just need a swift kick in the duff to get us off the couch, or out of wherever we may be in our head.  One such moment for me was last weekend as I sat languishing my decision to not participate in an endurance run in Ocean City. The… Read more »

On the road with family this week for our mini-vacation, we stopped to get some lunch.  Seeing a sign for New York Style Pizza, we knew we had to go.  It was just the respite that we needed, and starting off with the garlic knots was the perfect way to bring everyone back from the… Read more »

My Assateague permit just expired and I just may have to get it renewed. There’s something fantastic about a drive-on bonfire, dinner, the roar of the ocean and the ghost crabs. The squeals and squeaks of the children abound as they finally find the translucent little white beasts who in their retreat turn and make… Read more »

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, or mayhap it was simply the season of plagiarism.  The muddled thoughts of my mind make it difficult to… Read more »

Every now and then, the near-100 degree temperatures merit a little outside-time.  I don’t mind sweating a little since it means that I have a good deal of the season left; we get a little reprieve from the minus-10 degrees that graced our shores a mere few months ago.  And, let’s be honest, taking my… Read more »

(Reprinted from Bayside Gazette May 30, 2013 issue) There is nothing like a weekend in New Orleans to remind me of the aging process and the natural degeneration of the human immune system. Visiting the French Quarter for a Marine Scout Recon reunion with buddies that I have not seen in 22 years, we left… Read more »

There is nothing quite like seeing the flash of fear on a child’s face when he realizes that his seat on the water park ride is now at the bow of the craft … heading backwards as he plummets over the falls. It seemed that the more he requested of the lifeguards to be facing… Read more »

Hearty food.  Nothing is better than hearty food on a day like today.  The winter breeze, the door frozen to the frame of the car and the thought that spring will someday be upon us. But I write this over a week after Spring has sprung.  I think of warmer days, and my thoughts turn… Read more »

Today was curing, smoking and barbecue day at school and it ushered in the strangest snow storm of all; not a bad way to spend a Tuesday. Students made duck pastrami (to be smoked the next day), Andouille sausage and pepperoni. The latter is hanging in the walk-in after a dip in potassium sorbate, which… Read more »