Early Tee Time on the Tenth Green It’s a postcard-perfect May morning: mid-70s, zero humidity, sunlight bouncing off the 10th green across the pond beyond my deck. Any sane golfer would already be lacing up spikes. I, however, am nursing joints that snap like bubble wrap and wondering if I can even hoist the clubs…
Author: TheChief
From Test to Triumph: An Immunocompromised Grandpa’s Covid Odyssey
(November 28 – December 11, 2022) When the Walgreens screen lit up “POSITIVE,” I knew my long-running streak of Covid dodgeball was done. After two years of caregiving, masking, and lecturing my grandkids on “Papa’s special germs,” the virus finally tagged me—24 hours before a scheduled colonoscopy, no less. (Silver lining: that particular probe got…
Love the Way My Granddaughter Thinks
If only we could all be this way Yesterday was another crazy day in the life of a grandparent. With the joys of being privileged enough to have one, my wife and I are blessed with two. A four-year-old granddaughter and a two-year-old grandson. They are both amazing and despite exhausting papa on every visit,…
Prediction Under a Blood Moon: Why Bipartisanship Flat-lines Tonight
Prediction Under a Blood Moon: Why Bipartisanship Flat-lined — and What the Election Results Just Confirmed Originally drafted on Election Day (Nov 8, 2022); updated with certified 2022 mid-term outcomes. When that crimson eclipse slipped below the horizon I wrote that the night would deepen—rather than heal—America’s political fracture. The Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index already…
My Brother, The Braves’ Own Angel
(For my brother, October 27 2021) The 2021 World Series has just begun, and some friends think I’m delusional for picking the Braves to win it all. I’m not. They simply don’t know about the secret weapon Atlanta carries into every inning: my brother, now cheering from the bleachers of heaven. The Ultimate Braves Fan…
The New One-Income Boom: Why Millions Won’t Return to 60-Hour Weeks
The pandemic upended plenty, but one shift is still hiding in plain sight: millions of U.S. households have quietly pivoted to a “one-income boom.” Pay jumps at the lower end of the market mean families that once needed two paychecks—or three part-time hustles—can suddenly cover the basics with one. No wonder so many alarms keep…
Southern Snow
I’m at the dining-room table, mug in hand, watching a rare Southern snow glide past the window. From this warm perch I’m reminded—again—how quietly fortunate my life is. The Deck Show Just beyond the glass a gray squirrel is determined to commandeer the bird feeder. He stretches from the deck rail like a living bungee…
