Category: Americana
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You Want Me to Buy What?
One of our daughters and her one-year-old son stopped by the house recently for dinner. She had just returned from a visit to the pediatrician where she learned that her son only had a cold and not the flu. While there, the doctor also determined he had a worse-than-average diaper rash. Hearing my wife and…
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But Now, I See
Today is January 1, 2019, the 250th-anniversary of….wait. Before you start celebrating, a little background might be in order. It begins with a man named John. Born in 1725, he spent the first seven years of his life in England. With his father at sea, his loving mother doted on her son, taking him to…
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The Christmas Tree Fort
What is it with kids and forts? I remember as a kid building forts and tree houses with my friends. I recall as a parent, my children using pillows and cardboard boxes to construct their make-believe hideaways. Now my grandchildren seem to naturally want to use blankets over tables or delight in scrambling into…
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It’s A Wonderful Life…AGAIN!
It’s the Christmas season and no season would be complete without a telecast of the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This 1946 movie stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a man who yearns to leave the small, serene town of Bedford Falls but stays home sacrificing his dreams to help others. While not considered…
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A Christmas Gift Giving Guide for the Man Who Has Everything
My children tell me that there is a direct correlation between age and the difficulty of buying gifts. The older I get, the harder it is to pick out a gift for me. They are well aware that their father, aka Poppy, has told them on many occasions that he is a man who has…
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Chasing the Shadows of Christmas
I love Christmas. I love the way the house is lit up with lights and decorations. I love the baking of Christmas cookies, the seasonal scents of balsam, cinnamon, and gingerbread. Who doesn’t enjoy the familiar Christmas tunes that admittedly start playing way too early, yet help create such a festive atmosphere? But what I…
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The Christmas Gift
Nine years ago, I wrote a story about an experience at a Chick-fil-A Restaurant near my office. Every Christmas, I reread it as a reminder of my many blessings. Today I want to share it for the first time with TheBuddyBlog.com audience. I hope it blesses you as it did me years ago. The Christmas…
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I Bombed Pearl Harbor
Later this week, December 7, 2018, will be the 77th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack propelled the United States into World War II. President Roosevelt declared it a “Day of Infamy.” In light of this infamous moment in American history, I wanted to share a personal reflection of a little-known…
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No Room for Mr. Wiggles
The Monday after Thanksgiving is labeled Cyber Monday since it is the biggest online shopping day of the year. In an effort to counter the rampant consumerism that surrounds the Christmas season, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving has, in recent years, been designated as Giving Tuesday to encourage people to donate to their favorite charity, ministry…
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A Day of Honor
November 11th is Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor America’s veterans both living and dead. Why November 11th? Because on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Armistice ending World War I began. Initially titled Armistice Day, it was later changed to Veterans Day in 1954.…
