Every Easter, I am hit with the impulse to draw the comparison between, Charlie emerging from her Crate and Jesus leaving His tomb. And every Easter, I refrain on the grounds that I feel that it borders on the sacrilegious, at least as far as I'm concerned. But I will say this: much has been said about Zach and I opening the door to Charlie's crate. But what's the worse that could have happened if…

My grandfather was an old-time preacher man; one of his favorite sayings was "Great minds talk about ideals, average minds talk about current events, but small minds talk about people." This saying came to mind yesterday when after the "news" concluded and the following program was one of those gossip shows keeping us updated on the lives of people who care not a whit for the great unwashed: Hollywood celebrities, the "Royals", entertainers, politicians, etc.…

If I say or do something and Charlie isnt there to see or hear it, am I still wrong? We all know that a "CHARK!!!" is Charlie Bark, the one she uses when she's not getting her way; i.e. if the motorcycle has sat still too long. But as she gets older, she keeps adding new ways to communicate the fact that I'm not performing up to her exacting standards, and latest is a "chowl",…

"Anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac" -George Carlin This seems to be the prevailing attitude when it comes to self-isolation. When we see those around us looking for any reason whatsoever to "just run to the store EVERY SINGLE DAY", it builds a great deal of resentment in those of us who are at least making a good faith effort to adhere to the…

"May you live in interesting times"- ancient Chinese curse. Dad here; rainy day at the Casa del Whackos, with no actual humans in attendance, but the canine census has been completed, with six snoring, farting hairballs sprawled across the bed. Toby, the neighbor's dog, has temporarily replaced Micro Polo, who left this morning with Mom and Oba. The three of them are in four-wheeled quarantine enroute to North Carolina to prepare the rest of Oba's…

Full disclosure alert: dad had nothing to do with the following post, who's opening line which was prompted by another post that he had nothing to do with. As far as he's concerned, that's double deniability. No, it is I, Charlie Bravo, who takes full responsibility for the lack of responsibility that the following words represent. The only apology that I make is to the "other" Charlie, Charlie Daniel's, the younger brother of Jack Daniel's,…

A few years ago, Mom found a lump while on vacation. Sure enough, it was cancer, and a particularly aggressive type at that. This began a long process: lumpectomy, biopsy, double mastectomy with reconstruction, chemotherapy, hair loss, a mohawk (no, we mean ALL her hair), more reconstruction, weight gain from the steroids to combat the effects of the chemo, a hysterectomy to remove the ovaries that could potentially be feeding additional cancer cells, and on…