RichC | July 4, 2019
Most Americans love their country and enjoy celebrating our country’s “amazing” 243 year history and success. We are thankful for the rag-tag group of patriots from the 13 original colonies who boldly fought for their independence from Great Britain. In school, my generation (and previous) learned about our forefather’s near impossible struggle for freedom and […]
RichC | May 26, 2019
Earlier this week I posted something frivolous for a Music Monday, which happens to be Memorial Day, so I’m going to include is post a day early on Sunday thinking others might read it as a way to learn a little more about those who make the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country. If […]
RichC | May 12, 2019
Happy Mother’s Day! The great part about this Mother’s Day is that I’m spending it with the “living” mom’s I love most – Brenda and Katelyn … and since I’m posting this in advance, I’ll recycle a Mother’s Day photo from a post 2 years ago in Wayzata, Minnesota. Annalyn is so little. The month […]
RichC | April 23, 2019
Although Brenda worked Easter Sunday this year, the weather could not have been more beautiful in Cincinnati for a few chores. I buffed out the oxidation on our 2002 Honda Odyssey, as the Florida sun is hard on paint. After buffing, I wax and buffed again in order to add a layer of protection … […]
RichC | April 21, 2019
Happy Easter … He Is Risen. He Is Risen Indeed! The resurrection of Jesus and His “ascension” to heaven is a vision we can only imagine. When I’m too busy to blog, a beautiful photo from space works well as an Easter post. Here’s a photo from the International Space Station (#ISS) just after a […]
RichC | April 18, 2019
It is Thursday before Easter and besides thinking about a Throwback Thursday post, it is also Maundy Thursday – the day in which Christian’s commemorate the Last Supper. It also reminds me of the times we would get together with our families on or around Easter. Sometimes it was with my parents and other times […]
RichC | February 14, 2019
It may be a quirky Valentine’s Day gift, but Brenda tossed our alarm clock of 36+ years into the trash a couple months ago saying, “I don’t trust it anymore.” I was relatively happy to see it go since the “honk, honk, honk” of the alarm was the most annoying alarm ever. Besides, I’ve been […]
RichC | January 30, 2019
In an old spinnaker (sail) from our Thistle, I finally hauled out our larger than usual Christmas tree this past week. It was then that I realized I had neglected to archive the “Great Christmas Tree Disaster of 2018” story from December. Hm, how could I have forgotten … likely for the same embarrassing reason […]
RichC | January 21, 2019
While contemplating both a Music Monday and a Martin Luther King Jr. reflective post for this U.S. National Federal Holiday, I thought about Dr. King’s 1963 I Have A Dream speech‘s reference to the African American spiritual “Free At Last” and wondered about the early recordings? Although I’ve heard several different relatively modern gospel recordings, […]
RichC | January 1, 2019
This year our our 2018 Christmas letter included a quote by the Dalai Lama and it reminds me that our time on earth is finite. Once a grain of sand has passed through the hour glass, it is gone … so make each day count this 2019. There are only two days in the year […]
RichC | December 26, 2018
A few days, a few more pounds of cookies (and food) and way too many presents and good times to recap appropriately … so as the photos are fired back and forth between our smartphones, here are a few for the archives. What a “great” … and GRATEFUL … time we had with our family. […]
RichC | December 25, 2018
Every tech-loving guy needs a subject for a new gizmo … my son-in-law Drew is no exception. He set up his new GoPro-like camera (gift from Katelyn) to time-lapse our Christmas morning. His effort was a little bit too fast for me to watch … so I stretched out the MP4 clip to last almost […]
RichC | December 21, 2018
Although my intent for MyDesultoryBlog was to be just an online version of a personal journal and place to post my day to day thoughts for posterity …the analytics and comments over the years makes it clear that there are a few of you who enjoy reading my quick daily discourse … or you are […]
RichC | December 17, 2018
How about a classic … Merry Christmas from the Family … first recorded by the “alternative country music” artist Robert Earl Keene in 1994 (below is a live version from 2006 still on YouTube). It still makes me smile even if in today’s world it is probably not PC … nor was it appropriate to […]
RichC | December 15, 2018
Although Brenda and I are making steady progress in getting things ready for Christmas, the iMac surgery mentioned yesterday did not go as smoothly as planned, but at least I do have backups to rebuild things from. Currently the “way too many” cloud services that I’m using are working overtime as my Time Machine archive […]
RichC | November 22, 2018
This was probably not a Thanksgiving meal with my late mom and dad, but it was in the fall of 1987 and is a perfect #TBT memory. My daughter Katelyn was pretty close to her daughter Annalyn’s age and my brother Ron and Claire just engaged to be married. It seems like yesterday, but was […]
RichC | November 11, 2018
The "Bells of Peace" will ring out nationwide from smartphones on the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" to mark the centennial of the end of World War I in November 1918 – click for app On the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month … one hundred […]
RichC | November 3, 2018
It is either a changing time with more parents concern for the safety of their children or we just live in a changing neighborhood? This was the first year we had ZERO trick or treaters for Halloween. While it is true we’ve never had that many, we always see a few neighbor kids stop by […]
RichC | September 11, 2018
“We’re Going to Do Something …” After a week of total disgust over Nike selecting Colin Kaepernick as their new spokesperson suggesting he "sacrificed everything" when he knelt during the National Anthem and wore socks portraying "police as pigs" … I saw Mike Rowe’s Facebook post and thought his way too polite comment sum things […]
RichC | September 3, 2018
Have a great Labor Day! Let’s kick back and celebrate the dedication of all the workers (hopefully some of us) who contribute to the social and economic strength of America by working hard all year long.Although I no longer work as hard as when I was younger, it is still nice to be enjoy the […]
RichC | July 4, 2018
My son Taylor continues to enjoy photography and for the 4th of July this year made an impressive time lapse “USA” photo with his friends in our backyard behind the pool (after enjoying it, I might add!). I am continually impressed with his creativity and enjoyment of a hobby I have tinkered with my whole […]
RichC | June 17, 2018
It doesn’t get all that much better for Brenda and me than spending some time with Katelyn, Taylor, Megan and of course Annalyn over Father’s Day weekend. Unfortunately we missed Drew as he had a medical conference in Chicago and hospital rounds upon returning to Toledo over the weekend (Katelyn took advantage of the time […]
RichC | May 29, 2018
Spent a little more time working on the condo kitchen over a stretched Memorial Day weekend since a replacement range needed to be received (gas version was shipped by mistake on first order). Thankfully was also able to get the templates made for the countertops after adding the stub wall support and some final cabinet […]
RichC | April 1, 2018
Happy Easter brothers and sisters in Christ! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. This past week I’ve been listening to Alistair Begg speak on Life After Death recorded from Parkside Church and shared on the Truth For Life podcast. Ever since Katelyn and Drew gave me the Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas I […]
RichC | February 14, 2018
Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife Brenda, daughter Katelyn and to Annalyn on her first Valentine’s Day (but don’t read this Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day history!) It’s not that I forget or take lightly my wife and daughter, but it is hard to beat thinking about my granddaughter as my special “smallest and sweetest” […]
RichC | January 15, 2018
Today, January 15, 2018, our nation celebrates the life and accomplishments of one of our greatest Americans on his national holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This past Friday, President Trump signed a proclamation that honors Dr. King by designating his birthplace, church and tomb as a National Historic Park. Along with the president’s respectful […]
RichC | January 1, 2018
Happy New Year 2018 to all those following or reading MyDesultoryBlog … thank you. A regular inclusion each year has been the Lake Superior State University Annual List of Banished Words. This is their 43rd year of doing it and there are some welcomed ones in this year’s list — highlighting the ones that bug […]
RichC | December 27, 2017
How could we NOT enjoy our first Christmas as grandparents knowing that our granddaughter Annalyn is healthy, happy and loved? Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn came down to Cincinnati and spend the long weekend with us as did Taylor who is in town. It is so great to know they ALL love getting together and spending […]
RichC | December 25, 2017
While reading about the Winter Solstice, songs we call “carols” were not originally what come to mind today. I Saw Three Ships (carol – written in 1410) The first songs/carols in Europe were not Christmas Carols, they were pagan songs sung while dancing around stone circles on the shortest day of the year – […]
RichC | December 21, 2017
Although my memory is a little bit foggy, Brenda and I probably saw each other a couple of Christmas’s prior our first Christmas? We were dating in 1980 and engaged in 1981 and likely celebrated with each other close to the day, but were home with our families for Christmas Day. Anyway, when scanning the […]
RichC | December 20, 2017
Just in case there are a few men looking for last minute jewelry gifts to give to their sweetheart for Christmas, here’s a ring idea that will pretty much guarantee that you’ll never need to worry again – you’ll either be alone … or dead! And since I know there is sure to be a […]
RichC | December 14, 2017
Wow … is this really the 35th Christmas? With boxes all over the basement in search for Brenda‘s "special ornaments," I ran across the old photo albums of our first year of marriage and our first Christmas. We both remember it fondly since it was a relatively minimalist Christmas. The tree came from Brenda’s dad’s […]
RichC | December 12, 2017
A year has passed once again and our family is looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus this Christmas season. Brenda is busy decorating and shopping (with my “questionable” help), and I’m tinkering way too much working on a couple of silly little homemade projects. Perhaps one of these years I’ll get started on […]
RichC | December 11, 2017
While getting my haircut last week, the conversation of holiday themed entertainment was being discussed. The stylist asked me if I had seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Brenda and I had not, but I know it is something we would enjoy, especially Brenda with her classical violin background. I may check our schedule as they will […]
RichC | November 28, 2017
As someone who is relatively comfortable with ecommerce and shopping for the best deals online, I don’t think I’ve ever been as frustrated as I was on Monday. Brenda and I had semi-planned to do a little more shopping "online" this year and since Cyber Monday is generally a "good deal" day to shop for […]
RichC | November 26, 2017
Better late than never in posting a few photos from our Thanksgiving day dinner and family time over this extended weekend. My brother Ron and his family were all able to get together at our house this year with our two new additions: Annalyn (Katelyn and Drew) and Teagan (Keira and Ben). Thankfully all of […]
RichC | November 23, 2017
If God created turkeys this ugly as protection from predators … it didn’t work … because 46 MILLION TURKEYS still ended up on some “thankful” American’s plate. Happy Thanksgiving. With all the “food fixing” going on, how about a little humor …
