Family

Emotionally Contagious

01.10.2012 Family

Humans often claim the realm of emotions as strictly and uniquely ours, but it just isn’t true. Anyone who has ever had a dog knows that they have emotions and can tell when we’re upset. Recent research is demonstrating that mammals of virtually all kinds have emotional lives. A rat will try and help free […]

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I Was A Mall Santa

12.22.2011 Family

Many years ago, when I was in my first year of grad school and Diane and I were in our second year of marriage, I took a job as a mall Santa. The next semester I’d be teaching expository writing and making money working as a tutor, but the extra money earned as a Santa […]

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My Superpower (and Yours): Connection

12.01.2011 Family

I pay a lot of money, every month, for the illusion that I can be in control of events. I suppose it comes in part from my Boy Scout indoctrination for eternal preparation, or maybe it’s my experience as a parent. I buy insurance. I carry a pocket knife. I keep a first aid kit […]

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Preparing The Feast

11.23.2011 Family

Today, the day before Thanksgiving, we start (or in some cases, continue) the preparation for our Thanksgiving feast. The girls will be coming home from college and we’ll cook, clean, and eat together. It’s in this preparation, the care and love that goes into everything that leads up to the feast, where the real joy […]

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A Strong Play Ethic

11.09.2011 Art

People often laugh and are amazed when they spend any time around me. I tend to take things to unexpected extremes. OK, not just some things, pretty much everything. I even take my play time very seriously. I’m the guy who started out by saying, “Hey, if I put a couch down here and got […]

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