Thoughts of a Common Man

Springsteen and the E-Street Band played Washington D.C. on Wednesday night, and as he’s done in cities all across the nation, Bruce addressed what’s going on with a very thoughtful presentation of the facts of the matter. They’re receiving death threats. There are just a couple of times when Bruce stops playing music and breaks down the rights we’ve lost as the members of the current administration enrich themselves as the rest of us suffer. Now, I’ve been a Springsteen fan since 1975. I was 10. I was aware of Bruce’s political leanings by 1981 or so. He was vocal about how scared he was for the future of the country when Reagan was elected. Reagan later tried to poach ‘Born in the USA’ for his political campaign. Bruce stopped it. When he released the video for ‘Born to Run’ he ended it with the statement: “No one wins unless everyone wins.” And people have used his words to say he’s a communist who hates the country. Which is the exact opposite of the truth. Springsteen wrote a reco...

Something woke me up at 5:15. Just a boom. Miller was beside me and he was one pissed off cat, but he’s always kinda’ pissed about something. I didn’t think much of it, and got another half hour of sleep. Forgot all about it, but social media was all over it. A meteor. ☄️  Of course, there were a lot of scientists out there who immediately began telling us all they know about it. God was sending us a message about our bad behavior, according to one guy. Another guy was about to jump in his car and scoop up the meteor because finding it would make him an instant millionaire. I made a mental note to read about it, and ignore the ignorant comments, but I do wonder if that guy is riding around in his pickup truck searching the landscape for evidence of a meteor strike. I did think about how helpless we are if meteors do start raining down on a regular basis. The boom was loud. Pissed off Miller. What else can happen, right? Maybe the next one will land in DC during the UFC fight on the...

The summer season brings work to the forefront. We’ve had a lawn problem in the backyard because Ollie runs a path. I didn’t think it was so hard to grow grass, but evidently it’s not quite as easy as it looks on the bag. “Guaranteed to grow anywhere! Sun or shade!” Uh, not so far. And I started thinking about getting the mulch. I didn’t bother over the weekend because of the rain, but I stopped and picked up supplies on my way back from work yesterday. I was spreading some of it when Sam stopped by the back yard. “That looks like fun,” he said.  “Wanna’ help?” I asked. He laughed. Didn’t even answer, just laughed. “It’s gonna’ be under snow in 3 months,” he said. Which, sadly, is kinda’ true. (He did carry a few bags around, and he usually ‘grinds’ his way through the lawn, now and again). Yet, it’s been a solid twenty-five years of me trying to make the yard look all right for the summer months. Now that everything is in place the months long battle against every freaking weed I ...

We didn’t get much of a break weather-wise over the three-day weekend. It sucked because going into the weekend, I thought about some of my Memorial Day memories. Growing up, Memorial Day weekend was the weekend where we were dragged from our beds on Saturday morning to plant the garden. We had a big garden, and we were rudely awakened by my dad who wasn’t messing around. Five minutes after we opened our eyes, we were in the dirt. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, eggplant… …and on and on. Of course, there was plenty of banter. Sometimes there were fights. There were a lot of laughs. And by noon, we were usually free. We’d swim, and play hoops. When we got older, we introduced beer to the event. The Yankee game was on in the garage. And then the grill got going. My father was an excellent cook, and his chicken and ribs were standard fare. I have no idea how much money he spent on food, but there was always plenty. The neighbors would stop by and by the time we sat down for dinner there were us...

Back when I was a kid I used to daydream a little about a scenario where I would bravely stand up and save lives. Perhaps it was the storyteller in me, but I’d invent elaborate schemes where I’d escape by the skin of my teeth. A natural thing for a child to do, and inventing drama and then being the hero doesn’t do much for you as you try and navigate being an adult. Unless you’re part of the White House security team. There have been five shootings at the White House in the last ten years. There weren’t any during the years 2021-2024. When there was a real President living there. Assassination attempts? Seems like we have one a month now. Quickly followed by social media posts asking for a billion dollars for a ballroom and a bunker. Back in 1963, Kennedy was assassinated. In the 80’s Reagan was shot. We know more about who was responsible than we know about the thing that went on at the correspondents dinner. That one flopped so badly that it was out of the news in a single day. Wres...

Kyle Busch passed away this week at just 41 years old. He was a highly decorated NASCAR driver, and his death shocked the sports world. A sudden death in such a manner is horrible. Turns out Busch had pneumonia, and missed a few chances to save his own life. He developed sepsis, and it killed him quickly. Tragic. And news like this shakes things up, mentally. He was doing interviews, and racing just a couple of days before. One minute you’re here. The old saying, “Be where your feet are,” is something that I’ve reminded myself about. I’m throwing the ball for Ollie - and I get caught up in his enthusiasm (he’s at 23,600 catches for 2026). If I’m walking on a job site, I’ll take it all in, knowing that I’m fortunate to be able to climb ladders and scaffolds. We talked about Busch’s death here as I marveled at how quickly it happened. “That’s why it’s important not to ignore the warning signs,” Kathy said. “If you get sick, you have to rest.” Of course, men are well known for just barrel...