Author Archives

octobert

Anger vs. Happiness

On Monday, at his baseball game, Benjamin had a great first at-bat. In his division, now, kids have started pitching, but only until they throw four balls to a batter. Then they go back to the pitching machine. In Ben’s at-bat, he quickly got two swinging strikes before the coaches reminded […]

Just Another Day

I wrote this at the start of my senior year in college for the college newspaper, in October 1994.  After the long dark night, a faint glimmer of light appears low on the black horizon.  A chorus of crickets is replaced by an orchestra of birds.  They proclaim the birth […]

A Return To The Woods Of Life

I wrote this as a column for my college newspaper during my Junior year…about 20 years ago. It was about walking in the woods behind my house in Hopatcong, NJ. I can only hope that Benjamin and Matthew will one day find such a place to learn and play together. […]

Growing Up with Crayola

Earlier today, I happen to be thinking about Crayola and it really got me thinking about their impact on my life and all the memories, both from my childhood and the kids, that I have around them.  So I thought I’d share some of those thoughts. One of my earliest memories […]

The Search is Over…

Desperate times, oh this dark dark day, My favorites, you monsters, have taken away. No warning, no word to warn a coming plight, You cowards just took it and slipped into the night. For strong fabric at the seams I pray, The reserves to stay whole beyond their day. Woe […]

Sunset in the Foothills

Into the glowing foothills I follow, Before the mountains can swallow, A sun casting rays in desperate fight, Against the looming dark of night.   Her beams spread low, taking hold, Of rocks and trees in the gentle cold. Golden moments, they shine a glow, Helpless, though, as shadows grow. […]

The World Famous Artist

Pushing your ordinary, everyday shopping cart in behind me at your ordinary, every day supermarket came, apparently, a world famous artist. Although I never saw this man before and had no idea who he was, I knew in an instant he was an artist. For all I know, he could […]

Chasing Tomorrows

Yeah, this is my daddy blog, but I feel like I need to write this and get it out there to end a couple of bad cycles I am in. I don’t have a better place for this, but, in all honesty, what I write below has a huge impact […]

Christmas Magic

While I don’t remember who specifically told me, I remember other details around that moment so clearly, more than 30 years later. It’s odd that I can’t remember whether it was my mom or my older brother standing ahead of me and to the left as we came to the […]