Welcoming Sound
Hearing little feet
Lasting gifts of family—
Blessed grandchildren

Maturity
Impatient in youth
Tempered by life’s long journey—
With age comes patience

Blessing
Quiet morning hour
Quality productive time—
Confidence and peace

Hearing little feet
Lasting gifts of family—
Blessed grandchildren

Impatient in youth
Tempered by life’s long journey—
With age comes patience

Quiet morning hour
Quality productive time—
Confidence and peace


If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.
I think money spoils most things, once it becomes the primary motivating force.

If you want to be a person with a large vision, you must cultivate the habit of doing the little things well. That’s when God puts iron in your bones.
From Luke 16:10: “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”

Free and quiet morning
Saturday adorning
Reading God’s Holy Word
Clear thoughts, no longer blurred
Sun rises and brightens
Calmness breathes, enlightens
Workweek taking its break
Making buckwheat pancakes
Listening to new song
Beat of life moves along
One more coffee cup sings
Caffeine never hamstrings
Good vibes fueling this life
Waiting for lovely wife
Looking forward as one
Day brings plenty of fun
Watching Buckeyes’ football
Scarlet and Gray now call
Excuse our loud cheering
Assisting team’s steering
Night closing and ending
Sleep soon, not pretending
Each week’s sweetest, fun day
Always, be Saturday


Another airport
Airplane’s absent arrival—
Audible anguish

Beauty beckoning
Bouncy, boundless bonanza—
Bubbling brook below

Creative chaos
Curious colossus climbs—
Construction conceives

A tautogram is text in which all words start with the same letter. Historically, most tautograms are written in poetic form. The above tautograms are written in the Japanese-inspired style of Haiku.

I think of myself as the “Top Cat” around this house. Mr. and Mrs. Wynter brought me home from a shelter about two years ago. They love skiing up on the big mountain, and they adore their cats even more . . . with one exception.
Me!! Yes, you got it. I always seem to be in trouble around here. My female cousins, Sky and Birdie, are treated like royalty. Can you imagine two cats being treated like a pair of princesses?
Well . . . I want to tell you my side of the story.
My given name is Revel, which isn’t such as bad name. While Sky is sometimes curious and Birdie is shy, I love the adventure of roaming and exploring the house.
A few days ago, I am in the garage with Mr. Wynter. He doesn’t seem to notice me as I glide along the garage door rails high above the floor. I can be quite the acrobat while walking this tightrope.
I enjoy chasing and teasing my cousins, especially Birdie. She is so timid, but she doesn’t seem to mind it when I am pulling a chunk of hair from her back. I have a cool collection of her hair stashed under the bed in the spare bedroom. Mr. and Mrs. Wynter haven’t vacuumed there for months.
Sky likes to pull open drawers in just about any room. I encourage her to open as many as possible. When she’s finished, I move in and pull objects out of the drawer with my mouth. It’s so much fun to leave a mess in every room of the house.
When Mr. and Mrs. Wynter eat dinner, I join them by jumping up on the dining table. They become easily annoyed with me so I have to be quick to jump back down to the floor. It’s sort of like playing “cat and mouse.”
Last week, I helped Mrs. Wynter do some baking. When she would turn her back, I would jump up on the kitchen counter. Have you ever seen a cloud of sifted flour float through the air?
It seems that everyone in the house has grown tired of my adventures. They call it mischief.
Oh my! The life of a “Top Cat” needs to be an exciting venture.
Last night, I climbed up on a bookshelf high above the master bedroom floor. There was a pot with a houseplant in it. I just couldn’t help myself. I pulled and pulled with my teeth and claws until most of the plant and dirt flew out and landed on the bed.
I guess I may have gone a bit too far this time. Mr. and Mrs. Wynter have been dressing me today in a prison outfit, complete with black and white stripes. I look more like a convict instead of a “Top Cat.”
Snickering at my unfortunate circumstances, Sky and Birdie now call me Rebel.

My youngest daughter and her husband provide a home for three rescued kittens (now full-grown cats). Revel, Sky, and Birdie enjoy their new home. And yes, Revel does have his moments. The photos of Revel were taken by my daughter.

Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process.
The only important statistic is the final score.
Bill Russell played professional basketball for the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the consummate team player, but his leadership helped his teams earn championships in the Olympics, NCAA (twice), and NBA (11 titles). He became the first African-American coach in NBA history, and as player-coach, he led his beloved Celtics to two more championships.

Quiet autumn afternoon croons
Turning crystal white much too soon
Tree’s colorful, festive heart breaks
Collecting endless white snowflakes
Guarded weather forecast tonight
Predicting quickest shot of white
Overnight, all signals splinter
Transforming autumn into winter
Morning arrives, sharing delight
Witnessing a land, white and bright
Massive neighborhood tree now frowns
Missing some branches, crashing down
Silence broken, machines at play
Blowing heavy, wet snow away
Others working as busy bees
Shoveling sidewalk paths, now free
Laughter punctuates winter’s air
Watching children, playing in pairs
City avenues filling with cars
Sliding and crashing, near and far
Winter’s sense of humor snowballs
Spoiling autumn’s last curtain call
But wait, a few days down the road
Coming back, fall’s last episode
Days numbered, autumn’s final turn
Waiting for winter’s cold return


We are on earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I do not know.
Life is not having and getting, but being and becoming.

Fall in love with what you do for a living.
There’s an old saying, “Life begins at forty.” That’s silly. Life begins every morning you wake up.