DAD-GUMMIT [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

This is what I am learning. It doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a slow erosion on the outside while the inside maintains a healthy denial. “One weird thing after another,” IS the process of aging. It’s not really weird; it’s a direct challenge to the delusion that IT happens to other people…not us. Not me!

“Things don’t work like they used to…” I say to myself, after trying to race across the street “like I used to”. That other part of myself, the sassy part that is always right, responds, “They’re not supposed to work like they used to. Be grateful that they work at all!” Sassy, realistic, but with little or no bedside manner. I can’t wait for THAT part of me to hit the surface. People will think I’ve grown cranky but I will know that my aging body facilitated a weakening social editor. My new-old motto: If your body is going to hurt non-stop then you might as well give the world a piece of your mind! If, then.

Of course, I can only give the world a piece of my mind because, in keeping with the theme, a piece of my mind is all that I have remaining. DAD-GUMMIT! Now, where did I put my sweater?

Jes’ kidding. I’m as healthy as a horse! Out to pasture. Nibbling on grass. Lolling in the meadow grasses…(see? Denial, denial, denial)

read Kerri’s blogpost about ACHES AND PAINS

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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In All The World [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

There’s nothing better in all the world.

Love is like that. It’s the way it’s supposed to work.

And aren’t we beyond fortunate?

read Kerri’s blogpost about DOGGA

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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20 Cents A Toe [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Kerri rarely buys herself anything. Shoes have to fall off her feet before she will allow herself to buy another pair. And so it was with her flip-flops. Meant to be worn for a single season, her old pair had seen several seasons. They carried her for many, many miles. The heel was so thin it was nearly transparent when held up to the light. It’s worth noting that our summer footwear consists almost entirely of flip-flops. Recently, on every walk, on almost every step, she’d grit her teeth or squeak, “Ouch!” She felt every pebble, every uneven crack in the sidewalk. She was the Princess-and-the-Pea of footwear.

I was stunned when we went to the Old Navy outlet to take advantage of their $2 flip-flop sale and she walked out the door with three pair! “Who are you?” I asked, deeply concerned that she was experiencing a severe medical event. She explained that she couldn’t decide so in an uncanny, unusual and unfamiliar act of self-care, she splurged and bought all three.

“Six bucks!” she told 20 as she was modeling her footwear-coup. “Six bucks!”

“Wow,” he said, “That’s incredible. Catching my eye he added, “That’s 20 cents a toe! Good job!”

She beamed. Three pairs of flip-flops and deep inner satisfaction – all for six bucks! Worth every single penny spent on every single toe.

read Kerri’s blogpost about FLIP-FLOPS

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PJ Days! [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

The very first time I ate breakfast on the deck, the morning after we first met, we sat and talked all day. We never moved. We ate breakfast. Then lunch. And talked and talked the afternoon away. For an introvert like me, it was nothing short of a minor miracle to lose all track of time. Talking. Basking in the sun.

Little did I know that days lost-in-time on the deck would become a norm. And, yes, sometimes on the weekend we don our PJs all day long (writing and talking and writing and talking does not require a costume change. Saturday is smack-dab and select-the-melange-for-next-week day. And, let’s face it, we are artists…’nuff said).

So. What’s for dinner?

read Kerri’s blogpost about PJ DAYS

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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Be Woke [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

Tonight we will go to Pride-Fest Milwaukee to see our son Craig perform. He’s an EDM artist. His star is rising. This night, he’s performing with his friend and collaborator. Together, they perform as The Doggpound. We couldn’t be more excited or more proud.

This morning I read an angry response to a post (not mine). As a conclusion to her tirade, the woman wrote, “Aren’t you ashamed to be woke?” I admit to being perplexed to the point of mystification. Why should I or anyone be ashamed to be alert, aware, and concerned about all forms of discrimination and social injustice in our nation and the world? My idea of a better world means “liberty and justice for all.” Equality. It is the vibrant promise of this nation. It is the ideal behind our struggles. It is, after all, our pledge. Indivisible with.

I would be ashamed if I wasn’t woke. I find nothing to be proud of in dedicated ignorance.

read Kerri’s blogpost about PRIDE

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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Those Ubiquitous Carts [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

In some ways the grocery store is the last vestige of a by-gone era. A gathering place. A commons. A place of spontaneous conversation with neighbors and acquaintances – nothing transactional, not facilitated through a screen. A chinwag surrounded by vegetables, boxes of pasta and bags of chips. All made possible by the weekly necessity of pushing the cart.

We lost track of time in our most recent grocery-store-dialogue. We laughed heartily. We left the store with our groceries and giddy with delight at bumping into old friends. There is so much misunderstood power available in those ubiquitous carts!

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CART

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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The Stream [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

A wedding brought us to the mountains and within reach of a trail sacred to us. It never fails. The hike meanders through aspen groves, opens onto meadows with vistas that take our breath away. And then we come to the stream. Our stream.

Stepping on rocks in the rushing water, fifty yards up stream there is an ancient log straddling the crystal clear glacier melt. It provides a perfect mid-stream seat and has become a place for quiet reflection and insight. Three times in our eleven years together we’ve stepped up the stream to the log, stepped out of time and into hushed conversations and whispered revelations. By the time we return to the trail the world is different, better. Or we are different and somehow better.

I’m not sure what to call the previous phase of our time together. I am excited to welcome The Sweet Phase.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE SWEET PHASE

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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Coming Home [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Eleven years ago today, on a Monday, I was flying through Chicago en route to a job, but had scheduled a two day lay over to meet a woman named Kerri. We’d been writing daily emails to each other, an ongoing exchange that sprouted spontaneously six months earlier. During the flight I cautioned myself to have no expectations, to make no assumptions. And then I stepped off the plane…

It’s almost impossible to describe what happened over the following two days. I’ve written about how we laughed, held hands, and skipped out of the airport. I’ve told the story of climbing out the second story window onto the roof, wrapping in blankets against the cold, and sipping wine. Later, sitting before a fire, she read a short book that she’d written – a life chapter that she needed me to hear. She played her piano for me and I was stunned by the full-force-of-nature that came through this diminutive woman. That first night disappeared in a conversation that felt like a few moments; we were literally surprised by the birdsong announcing the dawn. What followed made day #1 seem like a warm-up band for the main event.

Kismet. When attempting to describe our first meeting I’ve used the word ‘mystical’ which is a word that I do not use lightly. It’s the only word that comes close to describing the 48 hours between my flights.

And, so, an anniversary: today is the day, after a lifetime of wandering, I felt for the very first time that I was finally coming home.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MAY 13th

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NoDoubtAboutIt [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at our website box below. NoDoubtAboutIt. None at all.

Happy Mother’s Day.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MOTHER’S DAY

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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Experience It [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab]

“In a Google world, we are all experts for a moment,” she said. Somewhere out there, in the ethers, I heard Marshall McLuhan applauding. I heard Neil Postman guffawing. It was the perfect statement encapsulating our times. The medium of our message. Knowledge need not stick. No need to remember. Teflon brains.

And, because I had no idea what it was. And, because I suddenly needed to make a statement to myself about living, I ordered it. I happily mispronounced it. So I might experience it firsthand with no intermediary. No curator. Unprotected. So I could have the experience first – before my machine made meaning of it for me.

All the way around, the experience was mysterious and delicious. Unforgettable.

read Kerri’s blogpost about GOOGLE KNOWING

smack-dab © 2024 kerrianddavid.com

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