Bucks Stops On A Dime

I am Uncle Buck.

Have you ever seen the John Candy film, 'Uncle Buck'?   If you have not, it is dated now, but pretty funny all the same. The John Candy character 'Uncle Buck' is now officially me. If you see the scene where he drives up to the High School in his smoking, out of tune, beat up 1975 Mercury Marquis Brougham Coupe, then you might understand what I am talking about..

Uncle Buck's niece Tia is mortified as Buck pulls up to the school. Which is not too unlike the feeling anyone driving near or with me must feel.  I recently started driving an old 1984 Buick Skylark that was once owned my by Mother in Law. It does not smoke and misfire, but it does have some other traits that put it right up with the Buck-Mobile. The engine makes a sort of clicking sound as if it needs a valve job.   Both headlights are bashed in (still working but crushed).  There is a heating knob and a radio knob missing, you have to use a pair of pliers to adjust either. Some of the windows don't roll up or down. Several warning lights are on full time. The interior is worn and messy, and there are old people add-ons like a steering wheel cover, seat covers etc.  Someone has put a sticker on the back of the Car that says 'My other Car runs on Fairy Dust'.

A few weeks back my wife asked me to stop by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for the dog. So one way home from work, I pulled into the local Walgreen's and went through the drive-through in my warn out old 'Uncle Buck' jalopy.  The motor was a clicking and a clacking. I told the clerk I was picking up some medicine, and he asked me the name of the patient. I said 'Samantha Adler' (my dog is named Samantha). The clerk clicked away at their computer and asked me "Sam's" birth date.  Dumbfounded, I told the clerk I would have to call my wife. Sitting their, reving up the car to keep it from stalling, I had to dial my wife and ask her Sam's birthday. The clerk was eyeing me as if I were an alien creature. With the birth date in hand, I was able to obtain the doggy pills. Wonderful. She was eyeing me suspiciously as I pulled away...flashing her my Fairy Dust dreams.

I've grown kind of fond of the pasty old wreck. My pride is now tweaked, and I have so far refused my wife's pleas to find something a bit newer to drive.  I refuse to lose the old clunker.

Cheers....nca

P.S. The niece, Tia...always reminded me of my middle daughter. The loser look she gives Uncle Buck with those expressive eyebrows I have seen myself many times.  And not for lack of any deserving on my part.  I used to tell my daughters that embarrassing them in public was a Father's prerogative.  :)

Empty Nest, Full Hearts

My wife jokes that her and I are both orphans. This is because our parents have each passed away now. It came upon us in a gently alternating format, therefore we each in turn were able to help the other. Her Dad, my dad, her Mom, mine. Sounds sort of like a nursery rhyme that way.

A second wave of separation has now descended upon.  as our daughters have all moved out of our house. Our youngest lives with her best friend at her parents house.  Our middle daughter has moved her family to another state. Though the oldest and previously mentioned youngest daughters live just a few miles away, we don't see them near as much as we would like.

But fear not, though our lives have changed, evolved....I believe we are ready to gracefully don our new roles as empty-nesters and 'top of the food change'.  (This is another way to say that with our parents having moved on to the next world, our turn is next).   I did not get a chance to have a whole lot of adventure in 2014 as I had envisioned...but 2015 hopefully will see more adventure and accomplishment for both my wife and I. We are already making some plans....so stay tuned.

 We also have the pugs to care for and love.  When the grand-children come to play, the playroom and the   kitchen fills with sweet noise and action.  So much more than empty, our nest is lively and active and safe and welcoming.  Both critter and grand-child know they are welcomed and wanted and loved.

I won't pretend that moving into this phase of our lives won't have it's share of difficult times.  Even now we already have times when we miss the girls and their families. We also experience sad thoughts when we remember those who have come before us and have moved on. Though our nest may be empty, our cups are very full. Though age has marked us with a few more wrinkles and some strands of grey we still have great purposes to fulfill here in this lifetime. Though our knees may be a little less sturdy and we are a bit less flexible and not quite as fast as we once were, we still have things to do, and places to go.  The Lord is not finished with the two of us yet.

Cheers, nca

Booking

Yeh, one of those...'when I was a kid...we never' posts. I can't help it. My mind's eye sees something and I don't know how to stay silent.

My Grandson is a charming sort. Tall, good looking kid, with a polite attitude; good nature, bright. He is not 9. He was over at my house the other day, and he was showing me some books he had picked up at the library that week.

Ahh, the library.  I love libraries. I loved them since I was a kid and first obtained that spoked independence that comes with having a bicycle. Have bicycle, will travel. Have library card, will read. Growing up cash poor in Phoenix limited the things to do on hot summer days....but libraries were free and oh the places a good book and a descent imagination could take a boy! Frank Baum could take you to OZ, The Hardy Boys could engross you in a exciting mystery in Bayport. Or you could assist Encyclopedia Brown solving a crime from Idaville.  Or how I envied and admired Horatio Hornblower navigating the warm waves of the South Atlantic and outsmarting the 'frogs'!


So, as my Grandson was showing the books, I was happy to see that he was enjoying the precious fruits of the library during his fall break as much as me or any of my brothers would have all those years ago.  And I certainly don't want to stifle his growing love of books at this age.

But looking through the books, I was somewhat shocked to see the blatant commercialization of the reading materials he had chosen. Three of the books were Lego produced and were heavily laden with pages containing minimal text and Lego land configurations of Ninja and Star Wars themed story lines.



Two other of the books were based on the popular video game series Skylander. And the last book was a drawing book on how to draw Pokemon.

To be honest, as I paged through all 6 of the books, I could certainly see how each of them would appeal to an 8 year old boy. And I would be crazy to discourage any youth from reading of any kind.

Still, I can't mask the thoughts going through my head concerning the direction of literature in the future.  Will the offerings of our libraries and bookstores become more and more commercial? Are we moving to more commercial forms of entertainment for our youth? Are we suppressing imagination and replacing it with blatant commercialism?   More importantly, will the youth of today ever be able to get lost within their imagination under the spell of a  talented author like I was all those years ago?

JK Rowling turned back the clock 17 years ago and returned the joys of literature to the youth of the world. I was amazed that literature was so alive and so thrilling to a new generation. I hope the joys of opening up the first chapter of a new world will continue to be experienced by youth for a long time to come.

Cheers, nca