Some folks hereabouts have wondered what Grandfather "at home" looks like.
Well, here's a scene for you ...
It occurs to Grandfather that he looks like a hick in that particular picture.
But, as you can see, his living room looks quite ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Thanksgiving Greetings from West Virginia
Grandfather Says: A Lesson on the Benefits of Working Smartly
Grandfather says he has some experience working hard and working smart.
In 1949, he worked for the Ford Motor Company on the 8N farm tractor assembly line. The 8N had a transmission cover that a hoist operator lowered onto the transmission as the ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: A Lesson on the Benefits of Working Smartly
Grandfather Says: The Heyday of Art & Culture
Grandfather says he has from time to time discussed how his country place is a refuge in this time of troubles and that he continues to enjoy the art of our culture as it was in our heyday. So, what cultural expressions does he enjoy, exactly?
The ...
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Grandfather Says: Headless Horsemen and Horseless Carriages
Horseless carriages and headless horsemen go together.
Horses really don't pollute the green space much -- garden soil and sparrows make use of it, such as it is.
But headless horsemen, in frantic search of money, use horseless carriages, ...
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Grandfather Says: The Joys of Part-Time Farming
Grandfather says he sometimes thinks back on his life as an odyssey out of the factories of Detroit into the mountains of West Virginia.
About mid-way, he took a little side trip and did a bit of "offbeat" farming. He bought some old farm ...
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Grandfather Says: One Good Thing About Getting Old
One good thing about getting old -- and there aren't many -- is that you can blame a whole lot of things on your age:
Miss your aim at the toilet ...
Forget to pay at the gas pump ...
Tell the cop you're staggering because of "the shakes" ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: One Good Thing About Getting Old
Grandfather Says: What’s The Value of a Song?
Grandfather says he doesn't have much use for a lot of modern stuff, but he likes electronic keyboards.
He has a lovely Steinway grand piano in his living room; a relic of earlier times and people in his life.
But he can't play it.
A ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: What’s The Value of a Song?
Grandfather Says: Never Underestimate the Utility of a Trebuchet
Grandfather says he built a trebuchet.
They were used in the middle ages to fling smallpox-infected corpses over castle walls.
Grandfather used his to launch model airplanes, although some of his colleagues suggested its utility for such things ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Never Underestimate the Utility of a Trebuchet
Grandfather Says: The Benefits of DIY Housing
Grandfather sees that very few folks build their own houses anymore. But Grandfather says he thinks the increasing concentration of US housing in the hands of wealthy owners, who then effectively control them as rentals, may make some of you ...
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Grandfather Says: The Story of Emile and Mollie
Grandfather fondly remembers Emile and Molly.
Grandfather first came to know Emile when he was Grandfather's supervisor at the US Patent Office.
Emile and his wife Mollie were Jewish; Mollie from Chicago and Emile from Eastern Europe. He had ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: The Story of Emile and Mollie
Grandfather Says: Impressions In Charcoal
Grandfather says nowadays, illustrations in printed publications are mostly done with photo-processors. In the 1940s, they were done by commercial artists.
In his teens, Grandfather studied to become one, at Cass Technical High School in ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Impressions In Charcoal
Grandfather Says: Eulogy for a Friend
Grandfather says he has seen most of his friends buried in recent years. Here is a eulogy that Grandfather delivered for a very dear friend at his memorial service, shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center in NYC:
Wayne Cowder leaves ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Eulogy for a Friend
Grandfather Says: Spelling Bee
Grandfather says he is blessed with a good memory and enough self-assurance that it's not a curse; little things from long ago come to mind.
When he was six years old, Grandfather learned to read by the phonic method: "sound it out."
Well, ...
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Grandfather Says: My First Job as a Newspaper Boy
Grandfather says when he was 13 or so, he got his first job: a newspaper boy for the Detroit Free Press. They distributed newspapers to homes through the 1950s.
Each boy had his own route, about a mile along a street, and his papers were delivered ...
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Grandfather Says: Happiness and Living in the Right Mold
How do you fit your mold?
Grandfather says life can be thought of as a mold, different for each of us, but constraining, whether we like it or not.
The key to happiness, in his opinion, is to live in the right mold.
Grandfather's mold is ...
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Grandfather Says: A Chicken Run for the Henhouse
Grandfather says when he got engaged to be married in 2008, his bride-to-be insisted on bringing her cat and chickens with her. Well, housing the cat required no special arrangement, but the chickens were another matter.
Grandfather says he ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: A Chicken Run for the Henhouse
Grandfather Says: Memories of a Budding Shipwright
Grandfather has written before about stone and wood -- this one's about water. Specifically, bodies of water and how he's enjoyed them over the years.
Described earlier were Cape Hatteras on the shores of the Atlantic; the Lynn canal between ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: Memories of a Budding Shipwright
Grandfather Says: A Trophy for the Natural
When Grandfather was 13 or so, playground baseball/softball -- it just depended who showed up with what kind of ball and bat -- began to invade his young life.
He remembers one of his novice catastrophes: a baseball went right over his glove and ...
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Grandfather Says: Preparing for Hard Times
Grandfather says he thinks there are some tough years ahead.
He says be creative and live better as those years go by.
B F Goodrich & Co. built a specialty rubber plant here, fabricating mostly aircraft and military equipment, about 50 ...
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Grandfather Says: There Is No Escape From the Present
It's highly unfashionable -- if not downright politically incorrect -- to live in the past, but Grandfather doesn't think so.
He believes US civilization reached its zenith in the third quarter of the twentieth century, when the nation was unified ...
Continue reading Grandfather Says: There Is No Escape From the Present
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