Friday Fill-Ins

I’ve been on vacation and so on the last couple of weeks. I’m back into the groove now, though.

1. This is what life does. It lets you succeed or fail, and usually in proportion to how much you try.
2. When you sit down at supper, and you all take turns saying grace, and your oldest son says “Thank you that I have a great dad,” do you really appreciate the moment? (I know I did!)
3. Upon reflection in the mirror, I decided I’d be better off having the leftover conjoined twin’s foot removed from my forehead.
4. I’ve been keeping a blog for quite a long time. (The archives show my very first as January 10th, 2001. Am I the only one who reads their own blog to see what they were up to years ago?)
5. Later, you wake up because your spouse says “Sacajawea” in a dream.
6. It’s just a quick walk from my house down the hill to the far and boundless sea.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing St. George Days with Three Button Deluxe (with special guitar player Mac “The Knife” Economy), tomorrow my plans include billing day and the church fair at St. George Days, and Sunday, I want to see some new faces at Sunday School (I’ve invited a friend–have you?)!

1. On vacation, I like to operate with a very loosely defined set of plans; I like to make sure there’s plenty of room to improvise.
2. I really don’t swim very much in the ocean. (Though I’m a Mainer, brought up so close to the ocean you can smell it, I don’t swim in very much. The north Atlantic waters are just too cold!)
3. One of my favorite vacation spots involved me snorkeling in crystal blue waters. (Any vacation spot that involves snorkeling is ok in my book!)
4. The great watch my Mom bought me has a moon phase dial; I can tell you how soon until the full moon.
5. Up, up and away in the Governor’s plane. (My first plane ride was given to me by my cousin Floyd. The plane was this really decked out twin prop job. He claimed it was the plane used by the Governor of Maine. True? I don’t know for sure, and Floyd is prone to storytelling.)
6. Bananas have made many appearances in my new “snacking more health-ily” diet.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing a swing gig for the Downeast Dancers, tomorrow my plans include meandering to Portland with my wife, and Sunday, I want to snorkel in Aruba! (I want to, but I won’t be!)

1. On weekdays, I’m usually about to hit the shower around 6:58.
2. It was the reason, of course, that the entire house fell in; it appears removing that lally column wasn’t such a hot idea.
3. Driving around late at night dressed as a ninja and standing in graveyards waiting for someone to show up so I can jump out and scream is something I no longer feel the need to do.
4. I have another errand to run, then maybe I’ll be able to hit the hay.
5. I have absolutely no idea where your batman underpants are! Nor do I have a clue where your shoes are, or your Eyeore …just go find it
6. What were once vices are now the ok thing to do–heck, elicit drug use is even accepted in presidents now.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing a gig with Steelin’ Thunder, tomorrow my plans include a Father’s Day hike with my kids and a wedding gig, and Sunday, I want to enjoy Father’s Day at my in-law’s house!

1. Salsa and merengue are two styles of music you don’t hear very much up here in ME.
2. You can put A-1, and onions, and mayo, and lettuce, and bacon, and cheese on your burger– and you’ve even got mustard.
3. By the time I get home I’ll have less than two hours before I have to leave for my gig.
4. Finishing up is what I look forward to most when grocery shopping.
5. And I was dreaming all these crazy dreams about Satan, and Father Priori, and riding a magic carpet through Hell, and all kinds of weird stuff.
6. Dorman’s ice cream…is there anything else better?!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing a gig at the Black Bull, tomorrow my plans include working a shift at the office, and Sunday, I want to have a great Mother’s Day cookout!

1. Where are my summer clothes?
2. If wishes were horses I wouldn’t have any. (Horses are expensive and needy and–in my opinion–kinda stinky.)
3. I’d like to see my house sold!
4. When I was a teen, I thought up this great name for a high school paper column; it was called “Bill’s Psychedelic Etch-A-Sketch Lunchbox.” (I wrote that column for two years. It was “Bill’s” because it was mine; “Psychedelic” ’cause I liked the sound of it; “Etch-A-Sketch” because it was always changing; and “Lunchbox” because it was full of good things.)
5. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was “Good-bye, I love you, be good.” (Either that or “If you’re too sick to go to school, you’re too sick to do anything else.”)
6. I’d have a hard time doing without my before bed snack–even though I know I should give it up.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to making supper for my favorite girls, tomorrow my plans include the first lawn mows of the season, and Sunday, I want to take a nap after church and Sunday lunch!