Re-learning the childhood game of ‘playing’

It took me a moment. Or a few. It always does. We had walked down to the churchyard to knock the soccer ball around. That was the promise from my daughter. The plan. “Want to kick the soccer ball?” I distinctly remember her asking. She knows I’m a sucker for it. Like an overly excited dog who learns he’s going to the beach. “YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Oh no, I just wet myself.” She got a World Cup replica ball for Christmas — a swerving wave of color that screams, “kick the stitches out of me, will ya?” I planned to. But I forgot children don’t make plans. They break them. They lure you in with one thing, then pull the carpet out from under you in a classic bait-and-switch. How quickly our simple game of kick evolved into something that involved no kicking whatsoever. It started subtly. “OK, so here’s the thing,” she said. “My goal is from there to there…” She pointed from Lawrence, Kan., to outer Ft. Myers “… And your goal is this tiny twig that I’m going to snap in half and bury 11 feet underground.” Huh? “Ready? GO!” she yelled, and the game was on. It lasted for exactly 13 seconds before she stopped, thought about it and then tried to convince me to play chase instead. “Chase?” I said. “I don’t want to play chase. I thought we came here to play soccer!” and I tried to steer us back to simple kicking. Sensing […]

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Beating the January Blues

You’ve got ‘em. I’ve got ‘em. We’ve all got ‘em. It’s like the flu. Spreading. Overcoming. Pummeling us into some sloth-like state where we slump around, dragging ourselves out of bed each morning and answering every question with a mopey, “I don’t care!” “Here’s that $1 million you won in the lottery.” “Nope! I don’t care!” It’s the January blues. Got ‘em? Feel em? Hard not to when the holidays are over, the weather’s turned cold, gray and gloomy, and your credit card melted from overuse. There are a lot of tips from so-called experts on how to beat January blues, but they’re all balderdash. Here are my tried-and-true Blues Busters: ? Launch a massive yard project — Nothing eliminates January blues quicker than undertaking some overwhelming, and equally depressing, yard project. We’re thinking about one right now that has me dreading spring so much I would much rather stay right here in crummy January. ? Plan a trip — We always do this coming back from vacation — right when the realization sets in that the good times are almost gone. Perfect time to plan the next trip — something to look forward to. You don’t even have to go on it; just plan it! Cruise to the Mediterranean. Bungee jumping with penguins. A trip to the International Space Station. Feeling good already, huh? ? Take up exercise — That’s what I see a lot of experts recommend in advice columns and website posts. But no one ever specifies […]

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A high tech, on-the-grid runner

A high tech runner? Oh no. Now I’m one of those people. I’m not even sure who those people are. But I’ve always thought I wasn’t one of them. You know, the type who is totally plugged in while exercising. Music playing. Incoming texts beeping. Their GPS always mapping. The latte machine strapped to their back foaming. The ones who couldn’t free themselves from technology for five minutes. Had to take it with them wherever they went. Even to exercise. But running for me was always the escape. The chance to put all of my wretched gadgets — the ones that follow me, and bug me, and tell me where I am and what I’m supposed to be doing and who I need to be talking to — away. It was liberating. A chance to just strap on my shoes, look at some squirrels and run. Then I went and did it. I got a running watch that talks to some satellite in the sky and tells me where I am. (Because I couldn’t figure that out myself.) Now I’m one of those people. And I loved it! “Check this out,” I told my wife, plugging the watch into my computer after finishing a run. Up popped all kinds of data on me. Miles covered, my pace, calories burned, my favorite color, how to crack my online security codes. “Look! It even has a map of my run. You can see exactly where I went!” My wife stared at it. […]

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Big changes with New Year’s resolutions

I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions. Never believed in them. Never thought they were worth making. Yet, as 2015 approached, I found myself resolving to make big changes in the New Year. Big ones! So, I thought I would share my list in hopes it might also help loyal readers like you as we embark on this brave New Year. ? Start listening to my wife. Turns out, unbeknownst to me, she knows what she’s talking about. And likes to remind me of this when she’s right. And this is fairly often. And fairly embarrassing. And could be prevented if I just listened… once in a while. Like that Amazon Prime membership that gives us free 2-day shipping. I finally signed up and turns out: It’s awesome! Or the refrigerator with the water dispenser and automatic icemaker. Again: Awesome! But every time I use them I have to hear, “See? Told ya!” Oh, what a little listening would have prevented. ? Do fewer do-it-yourself projects. DIY is so 2014. Let this be the year of do-it-someone-else. Let some other chump climb into the scary attic with all the nails sticking out of the rafters like dragon claws. Let someone else fix un-fixable plumbing leaks and take on terrifying electrical projects that usually involve me wondering if I flipped off the right circuit breaker before slicing through wires. Too many times I’ve told my family, “I’m off to do [insert project name here.] I’ll probably die, so don’t forget […]

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