IF I HAD KNOWN I WOULD LIVE THIS LONG I WOULD HAVE TAKEN BETTER CARE OF MYSELF.

    As I sit here on this rainy Saturday, I have a huge smile on my face.

    I was licked awake at 5 AM this morning by my beloved P.B.G.V. 'Star'. "Get up Dad," she said in doggie language.

    I sit here in my home office with my morning coffee.

    The sounds of 60's rock and roll emanate from my home recording studio.

    I have been spending a few moments evaluating my life.

    Today is my 63rd birthday. It all went by in a flash. Just like a blink of an eye.

    I got to thinking about the old quote from composer Eubie Blake. "If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself."

    Although this quote has also been attributed to Mickey Mantle, George Burns and Mark Twain (among others) I am sticking with the composer and jazz pianist.   

    It seems like yesterday my mother was taking a little five year old boy down to the Bobbys Corners playground to spend a warm summer day.

    Elementary school seems like a moment ago. We sat in Mrs. Young's fourth grade class room watching an early Mercury space flight on a small black and white television that a parent had brought in.

    My parents were told that my speech impediment was so bad, I would never be able to speak correctly. I later became a radio announcer.

    We endured those terrible days in Dallas.

    A major life change came when the family moved from Western Pennsylvania to Muncie, Indiana when I was in the seventh grade. But I survived.

    We were spellbound by four lads from Liverpool that invaded our shores. Music would never be the same again.

    We were shocked when we lost Dr. King, then a second later another Kennedy. We sat in amazement watching a convention fall apart in Chicago, and the national failure called Vietnam.
   
    In a flash, we were walking on the moon.

    I had already graduated from High School.

    College came and went. So did Nixon. A marriage came, then disintegrated.

    I adjusted as I lost the sight in my left eye.

    The Challenger exploded, claiming seven brave souls.

    I watched as my high school won three more basketball State Championships bringing their total to eight.

    Career wise, I think I have done well. Worked at some radio stations, ran a couple. Bought a small interest in one.

    I moved to Florida after my divorce and became a radio engineer taking care of a small group of stations.

    Shortly after moving here, I met wonderful lady and we have spent the last 24 years together. And its been great 99.9 %of the time. I wrote about that last Thanksgiving.

    I easily gave up that terrible smoking habit in 1992. Should have done it years earlier.

    Sickness and death came to both of my parents, and a step mother.

    I changed careers from being on the radio to building and maintaining the stations. Then to just selling the gear that makes them run.
   
    We all watched in horror as three thousand of our citizens lost their lives on September 11. And were saddened when seven brave astronauts lost their lives on February 1, 2003.

    The economy did well. The economy did terribly.

    I marveled as home computers came into being, not to mention that thing they call 'the internet.'

    We went from Beta to VHS, then to DVD's and now Blu Ray. 78's to 33's and 45's. Cassettes to CD's, now MP3's.
   
    TV sets grew from huge black and white consoles to even bigger color sets. Then they got lighter and cheaper. Now I have a 60 inch High Definition LED monitor in my living room. The picture went from a fuzzy and grainy analog signal to a crystal clear High Definition transmission.

    FM radio beat out AM. Now FM is being challenged by XM/Serius, IPODS, and audio streaming. 
   
    Like the economy, life is a series of ups and downs. There is no question that my life had more ups than I probably deserved. So I have no complaints.

    Except maybe when they cancelled "Ever-wood". But that's another story. And the last Florida Gator football season.   
       
    I made many friends along the way. Some are still with me, some have faded away. I had to watch as they buried others.

    As I look back, I have to say that I did the best I could. Never got arrested. Traffic infractions were minor. I never did drugs. Until last year, when I discovered that "special" pound cake.

    My father once told me. "You could have twenty years, or twenty minutes. Don't waste them."

    I don't think I have.    
   
    I wish I could be around for another 63 years. I can't imagine what is on the horizon.

    Have a great week, and remember what Dad said, "You could have twenty years, or twenty minutes. Don't waste them."

ARE YOU SO IMPORTANT YOU HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH EVERYTHING I SAY ??

    When I was a young boy growing up in Western Pennsylvania, my parents had a friend named Mrs. Weeks.

    I do not remember much about her. What she looked like or where she lived.

    What I do remember is the way she disagreed with EVERYTHING you said.
   
    If you said, "The sky is blue today," her response would be "well really is a light blue, more like cyan."

    No matter what you said, she had a better way of saying it. She was right, and you were wrong.

    As I was growing up, every time my mother disagreed with anything my father said, he would simply respond with,  "Yes Mrs. Weeks"

    I was having a conversation with someone today and he had to disagree with one little minor point I had made. Simply to show that they knew more than me.
   
    I wanted to say, "Yes Mrs. Weeks."       

    I got to thinking 'Are you so important you have to differ with everything I say?'

    I thought back over the years and realized that this person has never agreed with anything anyone says. He always has a better point to make. No matter what the conversation is.

    Are people like that insecure? Are they trying to prove how smart they are?

    Or are they descendants of old Mrs. Weeks?   

    I am sure of these people took the time to LISTEN to what they say, they would be appalled by it. Maybe not.

    So, your assignment for the week:  STOP TALKING AND LISTEN !!!

    They fact that someone says "the sky is blue" may not be the most important part of the conversation. Why disagree with it?
   
    All you are proving is that you believe that what you say is more important than anything else.

    It's been over 50 years sine the days of Mrs. Weeks. But she is still with us.   

IS THIS A SIGN THAT WINTER IS OVER ??

     We love living here. No matter how cold it gets in the winter, we know that it is warmer here in Florida than most other places. 
     
     It has been an especially rough winter for all of our northern friends.

     I do some traveling in my work, and for some reason it is always to a colder climate. One November, they sent me to Alaska. But the worst trip was to Nova Scotia in the dead of a rough Canadian winter. I have never been so cold in all my life, but that's another story.   

      I thought about that yesterday afternoon. Penny and I were sitting on our courtyard enjoying our afternoon cocktail hour in the eighty degree clear day.

     We love sitting out on our courtyard watching the birds and lizards. Penny loves her plants and flowers. The entire area is filled with color. We are usually kept company by our two dogs (P.B.G.V.'s- Star and Preacher- but that's another story) 

 
     You can tell which one is the little Princess.

     We listen to tunes on the outdoor speakers, and sometime have a fire in the fire pit.

     Some Sunday afternoons, we watch as John Travolta flies over our home in one of his two jets, coming to or from his home just north of Ocala.

     But on this day we watched as something very special flew over head.
     
     Penny saw and heard them first. A flock of Canadian Geese in a full "V" formation was directly overhead. And they were headed north.

     As high as they were, you could hear their distinctive sounds as they flew along their route.

    As I stood and watched I got to thinking, 'Is this a sign that winter is over??

     We watched in amazement as the geese began to circle overhead. There must have been fifty or sixty of them. They circled for about five minutes then they reformed the 'V' shape and went on about their way.

     So my friends, don't despair. Spring is on the way. I think it has already arrived where I live.

   By the way, shortly after the geese went on their way, I heard another sound.

    As if on cue, a large jet flew overhead, Looks like John is back in the hood.

    Have a great week.