Between the Concourses

Rainbow-colored neon lights flashed above the moving sidewalks as I traversed the route from Concourse B to Concourse C. They have always fascinated me. I finally captured a few photos of them.

Does your sippy cup come with free refills?

Perhaps if his dad hadn’t polished off the tasty beverage in his sippy cup, my nephew wouldn’t have needed to be quite so demanding at the restaurant...

“Blow out the candles, Grandpa!”

Grandpa remained a kid at heart, even on his 89th birthday. In consideration of local fire codes and candles-to-cake-surface analysis, we forewent birthday candles. Yet when we told him, “Blow out the candles, Grandpa!” without missing a beat, he inhaled and prepared to extinguish the imaginary bonfire set before him.

Life doesn’t always give us what we wish, but for Grandpa things turned out pretty well. Those last fifteen candles almost didn’t make it even to an imaginary cake. I was still in junior high when Grandpa had a stroke. It was serious. Because of his determination to regain a normal life, though, within a few years we found him driving hundreds of miles to visit us for Thanksgiving or Christmas. One time he entered our house and promptly asked, “Where’s that darn cat?” Upon locating the cat, he beckoned, “Come here, darn cat!” Grandpa loved animals, and animals generally loved him. Grandpa’s cane became a new toy to use for playing with the cat.

As Grandpa’s face puckered, my mind raced to a time when we visited a local museum and opted to borrow a motorized wheelchair. Grandpa might have managed without one, but the chair served a legitimate purpose. Exploring the wheelchair’s top velocity and testing its maneuverability by doing donuts in the lobby probably only served to entertain me.

A hint of mischief complemented the kindness in his countenance as Grandpa blew toward the birthday cake. The flames went out. He got all eighty-nine on the first try.

They offered free burritos. We foiled ourselves.

Thank you, Chipotle! The things people do to score free grub...

Keep Your Beard On

It’s that time of year again. Reformation Day is coming, and people are going to dress strangely. If your plans call for unusual attire, please remember this simple piece of advice:

Whatever happens, keep your beard on.

Effusion of Thanks

She’s apparently off dancing with new Turkish acquaintances and waking up to this every morning, so it may be awhile before she reads my effusion of thanks. Nevertheless, after she created yet another special post on her blog for me, I figured I should publicly thank her.

<effusion> Thanks, Karin. </effusion>

And just so the rest of you know, she’ll be heading back to this general area in the next little while, just to have a special picture taken with this guy. And we’re all very much looking forward to that.

Also, I am thankful for fall colors and the ability to share them. Enjoy!

Four Generations

My nephew helped to celebrate his great-grandpa’s birthday. It’s fun to see what gets passed from one generation to the next...