Dog On A Root

- jim Young 20191025 It's Hallowe'en,  the lamp is lit, And 'round the fire,  we children sit, 'Til sister Susie says "Hushhhhhh!" What's that peeking 'round the kitchen door? What's that creeping ‘cross the bedroom floor? What's that screeching like it’s throat is sore? It's a GOBLIN! - anon I remember sitting in the darkened living room in Gramma Young’s house in Stroud on Hallowe’en night singing this song with my 3 sisters. By the end of the first verse, I was so terrified that I would not dare venture into the dining room without the protection of one of my older sisters by my side, her hand held tightly in mine. "What's that screeching like it's throat is sore?" That was the fun of Hallowe’en - scaring ourselves silly. It was scarier than the wooden roller coaster at the CNE. The darkness of night had already arrived when Dad got home from work to help us carve the pumpkin. Lit with a candle a...

- jim Young 190912 “Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic.”  -  Edward de Bono Like all magic, the claim that "Beyond Meat is a healthier option" is just an illusion. I remember the Yogurt craze of the 1970s when those we generally referred to as “health food nuts” began touting the beneficial value of yogurt. Suddenly yogurt was available everywhere and it wasn’t long before it began appearing in the forms of ice cream and candy. “It’s yogurt candy!” I would hear people exclaim and I cringed when they inevitably jumped to the erroneous conclusion, “it must be good for you.” People are funny like that. And when I say “people are funny like that,” what I really mean is “people are stupid.” Or to put it in a nicer way, perhaps they are just “naive.” “How sweet is the perception of a new natural fact!” - Henry David Thoreau Fast forward almost 50 years and people are still proving to be “naive” with the...

- jim Young “I was never obligated to growing UP, but I had no choice in growing OLD.” - Steve Greeley Calculating my age. I don't know about you, but I literally have to stop and do the calculations whenever someone asks me how old I am. And even then, because I was born at the end of the year, I usually have to deduct 1 anyway. Minus-ing even 1 in my head is sometimes a mental challenge these days. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard if the number didn't change every year. Why can't we celebrate birthdays just every 5 years instead? Sure, our age would then be recorded in 5 year increments, but it might be easier to remember. We’re 60 for 5 years, then 65 for 5 years and so on. To let people know we are using the “5 year aging scale” we could qualify that by adding a plus sign to it. Let’s face it, if you want to be technical, even one day after our 65th birthday we are really 65.0028 years old (rounded to 5 digits). Telling someone we are 65+ is really mor...

Whenever Trump opens his mouth you can count on one of three things happening. 1) He will blatantly lie. 2) He will quote untrue information. 3) He will do both. And he didn't disappoint us again.

- jim Young 19920613 This is an article I wrote in 1992 that was lost during the transition of my site to a new server. As it is Father’s Day today, I thought it was an appropriate time to reprint it here now. On this, the occasion of my first Father's Day without my father, I address the following letter to Dad. George Young 1925 - 1991 circa 1980s Dear Dad, There's no doubt in my mind that you knew how much I loved you, even if the words were never spoken. For that I will be eternally grateful. I'm sure Leah prepared a nice room for you. Did she make you some homemade peanut brittle? Were you able to eat it? Is it true that they take your false teeth and give you back your real teeth in heaven? A lot has happened in the short time since you left us but I probably don't need to tell you that. I've felt your guiding hand with me throughout most of it. We've moved to the country now. I think you knew that was in the back of our minds for some ...