News From An Acorn

Kids are Funny!

Last week I was in the halls of our local high school on my way to meeting with a student. Two girls, whom I have known for several years now, were walking a short distance ahead of me and unaware that I was among the pack walking a short distance behind. One of them was carrying an iPod and sharing one set of earphones between them, so that a skinny, long white wire dangled back and forth between them as they walked to class. The girls rounded the corner and turned to head up the stairs....together...

Musing the Can

I row on a team with other guys three times a week. On my non-rowing days I walk along a shore road, around an old fort, and loop back for a 2.5 mile brist walk very early in the morning. Last week the wind was howling and it was bitter cold as well so I kept my ski cap on and hood up from start to finish. As most people know, sounds are muffled when your ears are covered and that, coupled with the nylon hood flapping madly in the wind added its own demention of distraction. Still, I kept hearing this far-off "tinkling" sound

River Runs

We have a saying among the Buzzards team members that "what happens in the boat stays in the boat!" It's a good rule, unless a story is just too good not to share! So I'll leave the names out to protect the innocent and shield the guilty!

Mobile Redemption Center!

Last week I was driving home from a meeting with clergy and ministers at our nearby local Interchurch Council office when I found myself stuck behind a large, dirty panel truck that seems to be traveling all of about eight miles per hour.

Life Lessons from Pigs

Marshal Rabedeau was a plain man who lived his days along the Chazy River near the village of Champlain, New York. His icy-blue eyes and instant smile belied the price that sixty years of farming does to the human form. Some teach and meter out their wisdom around a podium or in an office where the fee is measured by the minute. Then there's the Marshal Rabedeau's of the world who come in coveralls and sun-faded shirts, who could signal with one callused finger and say, “Boys, the work is this way."

Getting Married

As some know, I've been leading a retreat program for children, called Junior Yearly Meeting Retreats (JYM) for twenty years now. At our weekend retreats, there are many things, rituals really, that children enjoy doing year in and year out. One of the favorite activities that children enjoy doing is putting on their own "talent" show on Saturday night, complete with M.C's, sign-up lists, music, dance, performances, skits, you name it.   

Boys and bumps in the road

How boys make it to the age of five is beyond me.

One of my grandsons, Kevin, age two and a half, was running around with other children inside a large indoor play area recently. Kevin was running at a pretty good speed when apparently something got under foot causing him to stop short and sit down in the middle of the floor.

Bending his leg to see the bottom of his foot, Kevin picked off something round and slimy. He squished it gently between his fingers for a second, held it to his nose, and before anyone could get to him, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it!

With that, he jumped up and continued running.