Grandfather says he was a soldier once, in the Army during Korean War times.
Grandfather had developed a lot of stamina on his high school track team and, independent cuss that he was (and is), he stood during basic training forced march rest ...
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Grandfather Says: Remembering Grandfather’s Grandfather
Grandfather remembers his grandfather, James F. Miller, a man respected and honored as the family's patriarch.
He sired eight children, one of whom died in infancy; a common occurrence which was accepted stoically, in those days.
Grandfather ...
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Grandfather Says: The Alaskan Cabin on Chilkat Lake
Grandfather says he sometimes outsmarts himself.
He believes in taking the high ground and absenting himself from lowlife, so he builds his abodes on higher elevations in remote places.
But when Grandfather built his cabin in Alaska, up high on ...
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Grandfather Says: A Quick Thought on Hubris
Grandfather says all human institutions succumb to hubris, eventually.
Grandfather says he thinks that's not all bad, although he misses some of them as they excelled in their heyday.
The NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini comes to ...
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Grandfather Says: Recipes, Recipes, Recipes!
Approximately two hours of his day (mealtime) are hostage to food preparation recipes.
That's mostly good; cooks like to do well for their diners.
But Grandfather says just look at how many vittles mixer-upper publications are in his ...
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Grandfather Says: The Veterans’ List
Grandfather says he is a veteran, and his son served during Desert Storm.
With the help of the local newspaper, Grandfather compiled a list of veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Many of the letters that ...
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Grandfather Says: Sophistication is Overrated
Grandfather says "sophistication" is overrated.
It has been fashionable for snoots to say that you lack sophistication if you don't happen to share their taste for this-or-that school of art, music, or science. Good for you!
On the other hand, ...
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Grandfather Says: The Meaning of Life
Grandfather sees where someone wrote Len that the best thing about getting old is just getting there.
Grandfather says, "Amen!"
In Grandfather's opinion, Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy "Existentialism" boils down to: "The meaning of life is what ...
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Grandfather Says: The Majesty of Trees
Grandfather says trees are very important to him.
Not the kind that's planted to exploit for money; orchards, for example.
The ordinary, volunteering kind.
First --and maybe foremost -- he says they are beautiful in his mind's eye.
Some ...
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Grandfather Says: How I Order Pizza
Grandfather likes the funny epitaphs he's seen.
But he tries to have fun beforehand, because it's better than being morose.
When he orders pizza, he tells the clerk to charge his credit card now so she'll get paid in case he dies before he can ...
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Grandfather Says: Grandmother’s College Graduation
Grandfather remembers when grandmother went to college.
Grandfather graduated in 1957 but Grandmother didn't finish until 1974, age 40.
Each of us was raised in a working class, bible-believing family and it didn't occur to us to get ...
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Black Coffee: If Ifs and Buts Were Candies and Nuts
It's time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe ...
Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what's been going on in the world of money and personal finance.
Len asked me to fill in for him while ...
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Grandfather Says: The Family Trip to Maine
Grandfather remembers the family trip to Maine.
That was in 1961 and the family was Grandfather-yet-to-be, Grandmother-yet-to-be, a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.
The son was left with friends and the "Three ...
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Grandfather Says: The Dog Days Are Here
Grandfather says the dog days are a' settin' in ...
Have you ever been kissed by a dog taller than you are?
Or owned a dog that could levitate?
We tried to name him Sammy Davis Jr., but the American Kennel Club doesn't have the ...
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Grandfather Says: The Magic of Cape Hatteras
Grandfather says Cape Hatteras is a special place.
He and the family have been visiting there for nearly 60 years.
Grandfather says he remembers when Paul Mellon bought most of the undeveloped Hatteras Island shore and gave it to a national ...
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Grandfather Says: Coyote Countermeasures
Coyote predation, once a problem limited to the American West, has spread to pet and livestock owners in the Eastern US.
So Grandfather built a blind overlooking one of his pastures, where he could sit and watch for coyotes and take appropriate ...
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Grandfather Says: Here’s a Clever Way to Change Neighborhoods
Grandfather says he moved his house once.
When the road in front of it was widened, he moved it out of the way, up to the top of a hill on his place. That was before the family moved where we have been for 40 years now.
Grandfather learned a ...
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Grandfather Says: He’s a Cowman (He Hasn’t Been a Boy In Years)
Grandfather says his Angus cattle herd produced five steer calves which measured up to those produced by modern breeding methods from some of the biggest herds in the US, in the American Angus Association's national carcass quality contest in 1991. ...
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Grandfather Says: The Joy of Teachable Moments
Grandfather says he's not much taken with teaching credentials.
To hear some "educators" talk, one would think nobody could learn anything without their expert ministrations.
Well ... here's a case where Grandfather taught something without a ...
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Grandfather Says: A Few Words About Counterculture
Grandfather says he has been a fan of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, ever since he can't remember when ...
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "To be great is to be misunderstood."
Grandfather says he hasn't had much truck with "greatness" ...
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