Category: Recent Posts
-
A Change of Heart
In early December, Patty and I were fortunate to make our annual pilgrimage to Chicago’s venerable Goodman Theater to see A Christmas Carol. We were welcomed to Chicago by a plunge in temperature and gusty wind blowing through the jetway as we deplaned at O’Hare. However, that shock to our California-acclimated systems was easily offset…
-
Happy 4th of July!
Hands down, the most patriotic Fourth of July fireworks display I’ve ever experienced exploded over the Washington Monument while I was on the South Lawn of the White House. The longest stretch of my Secret Service career was spent working in Washington D.C. with assignments including the protection of President Ronald Reagan and President George…
-
Have faith…
I’d planned for months to write an engaging blog showcasing a lifetime of acquired wisdom. How long a lifetime? Well, the most popular Chevrolet model ever, the ’57 Chevy Bel Air, and I have a lot in common. I agonized over where to start this neat package of words reflecting on my past and looking…
-
Dashing Through the Years
I learned the words to Santa Claus is Coming to Town when I was about five years old. As one of over 75 million baby boomers born between 1946-1964, I recall Christmas images began to appear after Labor Day, but the day after Halloween, businesses and homes exploded in displays of red and green. I…
-
The Hollywood Sign
It’s been six long months since I last posted. A lifetime ago during this unexpectedly creepy year. This very unsettling 2020 creeped forward like a suspense-filled horror story. First it broke bad with the pandemic, or plague, as I prefer to call it. Then came the summer of social unrest, unprecedented since the late 60’s…
-
Graceland – An Unlikely Refuge
No, not in Memphis where Elvis lived and is buried, but just north of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Graceland Cemetery has provided peace and quiet for notable Chicagoans since 1860 when it was chartered as a certified arboretum. The ornate tombstones and mausoleums are a veritable Who’s Who of Chicago aristocracy, politicians,…
-
Memorial Day Memories
I’m somewhat of a WWII buff, dating back to my parents’ stories about their experiences. Recently, I saw a human-interest news clip about a WWII veteran in his 90’s whose wife of almost 70 years is in an adult care facility, isolated due to COVID-19. The staff arranged a golf cart “drive-by” set up like…
-
#quarantinemood #timetowrite
Pandemic reality hit us all in mid-March! A few days into the stay-at-home order, I got a kick out of a tweet about the week having only three days now: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Still true as of this writing. Two months later, like most of us, I’m ready for some normalcy again. Unfortunately, we…
-
Here I go..
I confess to being a technological and social media dinosaur. For years, I was actually proud to not know – or care about – the difference between a tweet, snap and post. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter were all the same stupid thing that would lead to the downfall of civilization. And what the heck…