i really like the numeric countdown to “don’t walk” on modern road crossing signals. its ideal for gaging the safest amount of acceleration required to make the light.

turns out i’ve been writing letters to my aunt since 1977 and all during that time she was squirreling them away in a box that she recently came across while cleaning house.

she mailed me copies of a few and after reading through them i noticed the earliest were characterized by many thanks for the presents she sent and the latter all announced a new girlfriend.

the sad reminder here is how rare both gifts and girlfriends were when i was growing up…

may 6th, 2007 at 10:47am ethan emerson feldt said:

  dad, i’m more smarter than you.

an early start to the rebellious teen years i was expecting in a decade or so and while i’m not going to count the number of times i hear this between now and then it seemed noteworthy to commemorate the inaugural salvo.

three shots in three seconds and another priceless family moment is missed…

too light

too dark

too late

my house just got one computer closer to being windows free when natalie got an early mother’s day gift in the shape of a mac book pro.

in the summer time i can’t see the houses behind ours because the woods that separate us are too thick but while gardening over the weekend i heard something in those woods and met the voice of a wise man from two doors down.

he said many things during our short visit but the most noteworthy was how he solved the age old problem of children fighting for a particular toy or seat at the table. his advice was that each child be ruler for a month and during that month they could trump their sibling and get the chair, toy or whatever happened to be in dispute.

the wise voice from the trees said they never had to worry about who was in who’s seat or who was playing with something first and at least in this one skirmish the parents had prevailed.