Horse Manure Park

An unforgettable and historic World Series has come to a thrilling conclusion and somewhere up there, my mom is smiling. My mom loved baseball. It was probably her favorite sport. In fact, the main reason I enjoy baseball to this day is because it reminds me of her. Of course, she loved the Minnesota Twins and when I was a kid, the Twins play-by-play was tuned in on our kitchen radio every summer evening (this was back when we only had one t.v. channel -- yes, only one! -- and it was very rare to be able to watch a regular season Twins game). I am so thankful she was able to see the Twins win a World Series in 1987; she was absolutely thrilled. She had her favorite Twins sweatshirt which she wore all the time. I have just one picture of her wearing that shirt, but for the life of me I can't find it. In fact, when my mom died unexpectedly on May 2, 1990, she was wearing that shirt. I found this picture online. It is identical to my mom's favorite Twins shirt. But he...

Music has always played an enormous part in my life. I played in bands from the time I was eight or nine years old, all the way through my teenage years. Playing music was my "after school" job, except I only worked on Friday and Saturday nights, and I worked in bars and nightclubs (you know, like most kids). Playing music was my first paying job and I made pretty good money doing it. My parents were always behind me; they were always encouraging me and supportive of me even if I didn't always play the kind of music they appreciated. With that thought, today marks a special anniversary. On this day four decades ago, March 15, 1976, Kiss released their groundbreaking album, Destroyer .  Why is this important? Because Destroyer was the very first record I ever owned. You see, I was (and still am) a huge Kiss fan. When I was a kid, I used to sit at the kitchen table and draw pictures of the band all the time. I used to make Kiss concert stages out of Tin...

This time of year when the sun is never far off the horizon and noon shadows are long and frozen, I really start to get stir crazy. Cabin fever, I suppose.  Perhaps you can relate? Lately it is been ridiculously cold outside, so activities in the great outdoors are limited. Many of my indoor projects are completed, although the downstairs living room still needs to be painted (I am not doing that in the winter, sorry).  I can only read so much for so long. I am a notoriously slow reader, but I've already polished off several novels this winter - two were almost 900 pages long each - which is impressive by my standards.  So, as I do on occasion, but not nearly often enough, I turn to writing. But what to write about? Usually that's a difficult subject with which to negotiate, but today it is easy.  This time of year I think of my parents more than usual. They are always on my mind, but especially so in the cold, excruciatingly long winter months. In...

This might be just another day to most people, but it is special to me.  Even though she can't read this blog -- actually, she would have called the whole concept of the internet "science fiction" -- I want to wish my guardian angel the happiest of birthdays. My mom would have been 86 years old today. I have precious few photos of her, mostly because she was always the one taking pictures; she was always behind the camera.  Anyone in my family can attest to that. Many of the pictures I personally took of her aren't very flattering.  Most capture her scowling at the camera with her mouth wide open, most likely yelling at me to "hold the camera still!" or to get my "damn finger off the lens!"  Hey, I was just a kid.  And those Polaroids were huge... and tricky. But today I started rummaging through some of my old photos, determined to find a couple that captured Mom as she really was.  I actually had some luck. This first one was taken...

I've uncovered all sorts of treasures while organizing our new storage unit. As I've sorted through old photographs, one thing has really stood out to me.  And I've realized -- surprisingly -- that I've rarely written about it here on my blog. It is something that was (and is) a huge part of my life: my love of drumming . I hope someday the Tax Deductions read this, and if they do, they need to know that drumming was a massive part of their old man's life when he was kid. Now, I confess as I write this I do run the risk of sounding boastful. That's not my intention at all. The truth is, I used to play drums a lot .  In fact, when I was growing up, drumming was all I thought about.  It was all I wanted to do. It was obvious to me that I would grow up to be a famous musician some day. Well, at least famous in my own ZIP code... By the time I was four or five, the drumming bug had bit me hard.  I practiced and practiced, teaching myself along...

There are literally a dozen things I should be doing today.  Instead, I've accomplished basically nothing.  Spent the day at home letting the Girl and the Boy burn energy outside. My dad would have called me a bum.  As usual, he would have been correct. Actually, I spent a part of the day looking through my mom's old recipes.  In March, my sister-in-law Marilyn (the world's best cook, just in case anyone was wondering) brought a cardboard box full of my mom's cookbooks and recipe cards for me to look through. I already had a large box of recipe cards (all in Mom's handwriting) and this is a wonderful addition to my collection.  I'm trying to decide what to do with all of them and I'm seriously thinking of launching another blog dedicated exclusively to her recipes.  Most likely, this will be my next winter project (always thinking ahead, I am). One of Mom's worn and much-used cookbooks.  This one is from 1967. Mom loved to cook and there a...

Over the past week I have been enjoying my evenings reading a book that I've looked forward to for years - Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley's autobiography, No Regrets .  Not exactly the most original title, I know, but it is a fascinating read - and very well written (Ace undoubtedly had help from professional writers).  Still, the story is his and I am eating it up. Anyone who knows me (if you are reading this, I assume you know me) knows I am a huge Kiss fan.  In fact, next to the Beatles, I would have to say that Kiss is my all-time favorite band. I became obsessed with them at a young age and I remember drawing pictures of the band all over my tablet in fourth grade.  I clearly remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Greenwaldt, tell me "Okay, enough of this Kizz business."  I quickly corrected her, "It's KISS, Mrs. Greenwaldt." I don't think I was sent to the principle's office for that one, but it didn't keep me from drawing pictur...

I didn't post this on the actual anniversary because I just couldn't bring myself to do it, but I think I can now. Twenty years ago on May 2nd, I lost my mom suddenly and unexpectedly to a massive heart attack.  I was not yet two years out of high school on that beautiful spring day.  It is amazing how fast 20 years can pass.  Even though it has been two decades now, when spring comes I get this weird sense of foreboding.  Spring is supposed to represent a new beginning; a new life.  But I've never quite been able to shake that feeling of loss when the snow melts and grass becomes green again.  That is pretty screwed up I guess, but the mind can do funny things to a person.  Speaking of which, it is very odd how the brain can work.  A couple of nights ago I had a dream of my mom.  I hadn't dreamed of her in a long time, but I suppose she has been heavy on my mind over these last couple of days and thoughts of her worked into my subcons...