Hello, Mumblers. I’m a little late with today’s story. Truth is I was not where I could write a story. Reluctantly, I’m going to tell the story now. Let me first say that I turned seventy last month. Things didn’t go bad becauseI turned seventy, but I noticed things were bad. At a recent doctor visit, it was determined by my doctor(s) that breathing is not what I was good at. This breathing revelation caused me to spend seven days in the local hospital. I could have wr

As I have mentioned before, Elaine loves fall/autumn. For the first forty-plus years of our marriage, Elaine has made the fall colors of the trees her high point of her year. She loves the yellows, tans, browns and beiges of the leaves. A few short years ago, Elaine discovered another reason to love fall. Football! Elaine spent the first decades of her life being indifferent to fall sports, especially football. She has a degree from a university (actually two degrees) wi

There are many reasons have “pet” dogs. None bigger than Elaine wants/needs something to cuddle with on the couch. No, I won’t cuddle, I like my space. We have dogs to “walk”, forcing Elaine and I to get some exercise. We can’t talk about how that worked out. Dogs are almost a nessesity in a rural setting. They become the first line of interaction with the local wildlife. No matter how small the dog and how big the bear/lion/other, the dog will alert the world something

Labor Day is not my favorite day. Labor Day 2026 is bittersweet but mostly bitter. Labor Day signals the end of summer, usually with some celebration. We (Elaine, both batches of kids, and myself) aren’t celebrating together. One kid is spending their Labor Day on an oil driIling rig in central Wyoming. One kid is spending the day laboring in a restaurant in Northern Colorado. One kid is spending the day with friends at something called PIlates and then spending the day