When I was growing up I don’t remember either getting vaccinations or any sort of public controversy about them. I suppose children in the first half of the twentieth century said the same thing about smoking: I was nine when…
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Pests, Invited and Not
Let’s start with the invited pests. We’ve always encouraged Child Harbat to get her hands dirty in the garden and be unafraid of insects and creepy crawlies. The potato bug has to be one of the most child-friendly insects, and…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: aliens, child harbat, garden, insects, parenting, pests, potato bugs, rat
Ireland in Southern California
Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, a day for everyone to wade through the mists of time to find some long-distant ancestor from the old country, fair Ireland. For my part, my ancestry is from Scotland, making me both fond of…
Odd Things in the Neighborhood
A clutch of nuns arguing about laundry. An Asian girl with Down’s syndrome eating an ice cream cone inside a locked car. The slow death of bees. These are the things in the neighborhood of my office. What odd things…
Posted in Uncategorized
Rats!
For the last month or so, we’ve had a visitor in our garage. A rodent has gotten in and eaten some birdseed by the gardening shelf. And when I say birdseed I mean packets of soy sauce that my wife…
STIMULUS OVERLOAD!
Be witness as Number Two reaches his maximum stimulus threshold. Could there be any more colorful toys around him? He has no escape! Update: Oh, COME ON WORDPRESS! This post would make much more sense if you could actually see…
Seal Beach
My wife and I moved to San Diego from Washington, DC almost eight years ago. DC is a city of politics, activism, and engagement. World affairs are present in people’s minds and protests are a daily event in our nation’s…
Other Uses for Money
This is a breaking news update. I need quarters for parking meters and I find the money has been taken out of the cubby in my car. Then I find my mug of spare change has disappeared from my dresser. …
