We needed tough lessons as children. An occasional playground fight was expected as the norm, and if we complained to our mother that we were being teased, we were treated to this glorious aphorism: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” My mom used to say that all the time, one of the seemingly endless adages she had at her disposal to deal with any of life’s problems. To this day I think long and hard about the practical application that dogma had on my life.
The idea that you could actually choose whether or not to be hurt by words: that was huge for me. Even though it has been repeated ad nauseam for generations, “sticks and stones” really is a powerful bit of philosophy to a kid. That’s one of the great things about being a parent: you can spout nothing but clichés, and yet, to your child, you come off as one of the great thinkers in Western culture.
–from MEAN DADS FOR A BETTER AMERICA, by Tom Shillue
After I finished talking I continued filming as I enjoyed the Westchester County sunset with Martha. If you like, you can enjoy it along with me.
Thank you for reminding me. I wanted to talk about our post-show hangout in Memphis and here it is:
“Time for a ride!”
Sunday, my lovely bride and I will be riding the scoot to Emigrant MT.
For those of you whom are fans of the modern western ‘Yellowstone’, Emigrant is the local ‘town’ to the ficticious ‘Dutton Ranch’.
‘Emigrant’ only consists of a Saloon and post office.
Our good friends ‘Philaberto’ and Sandy are there and we are going for a short visit. They are the reason we went to Emigrant the first time.
Pictures: visiting the Emigrant Saloon with Colonel Philaberto and his lovely wife Sandy.
Our route.
“Chili”
This was ‘Chili’ the red Husky.
He belonged to Uno.
He was only 6.
For some unknown reason, he became a fear biter.
If he thought you were going to grab his collar, especially if he was in his ‘crate’ he would snap or bite.
Otherwise he was a wonderful dog.
For some reason, I was one f his favorite humans. He would lose his mind whenever I visited.
He ‘bit’ his third person…
So he had to be put down.
I will miss him terribly.
