Good morning GH. It is just past 2:00 AM in "The City," and the current temperature is 69 degrees heading for a high of 84. If the Weather Channel app. is right, the chance of scattered T-storms is 50% starting around 9:00 AM. I await the prediction of Sugar the Weather Dog for a more accurate forecast.

On Thursday, Sugar and I went for a long walk and then we came home to read the paper. After that, I played some on the guitar and then did more reading in Drinking With Men: A Memoir  by Rosie Schaap. I also found time to vacuum, so I am done for the week with my chores.

It is now officially my birthday. I am now in my 63rd year of life. When I was younger, I never thought about how I would get this far, I was just sure that somehow I would, and here I am. Which led me to reflect on what my day will be like. I tried to think about what I might have for my birthday meal, and Mary suggested that a thick pork chop was in order, grilled ever so slowly on the Weber grill in the back forty. I think I like her idea. Other than that, I don't have any plans and that's the way I like it too. Too many plans spoil the pot or something like that.

Since I have been reflecting on the early years of our life together, I think it is appropriate to add to what I have already written. As I recall in our last episode, I wondered why Adam was a car guy. I suspect that the fact that I was into Austin Healeys when I was just a lad may have had some effect. The guy across the street was kind enough to lift me up and place me on the fender of his Austin Healey 3000 engine compartment when I was just big enough to see. I seem to remember that he and his family had something to do with the Leinenkugel Brewery, but I am not clear on what it was. I just knew that I loved his car, even if it was British and had that Lucas electrical system that consisted of four circuits and two fuses.

But I digress. I owned a motorcycle for a short period of time, and the settlement from an accident provided the down payment on our first condo.  I went on from there to own and operate a few cars and to work as an auto mechanic, manage a gas station for Mobil, own that same station for a short time, and teach that subject in a trade school for a few years after earning my certification. I also directed that same school for a few years when Adam was younger. But I thought it was time to get on with my life, so I went back to college, earned a degree in history, which Mary encouraged, and then I taught for 16 years. Mary's advice was that if I did nothing, I would still be four years older, so why not go for it?

One thing of which I am certain, cars, and for that matter anything with wheels, have played a big part in my life. If it wasn't for Mary's broken Fiat taillights, we never would have met and all the wonderful things that came after would never have happened. There was an old beer commercial that had a tag line "It doesn't get any better than this," and I am certain that it doesn't.

So now I am in retirement and enjoying it immensely. Mary and Sugar make life infinitely more interesting and sometimes more challenging. But that's okay with me. Stephany and Adam are self sufficient and that means that the question that I once asked Mary about whether I could stop worrying about Adam has been answered in the affirmative. You never really stop worrying, but the worries can take a back seat to other things most of the time. If I could just make my knitting work out better, my life would be infinitely more satisfying. But that's a story for another day.

So, when next you hear from me, it will be one day post birthday and life will be normal again, whatever that is. I will be awaiting the start of our 41st year together, something that seemed a long way off when I met a certain young lady over 40 years ago. I still see that girl in the woman that I am celebrating 40 years with. Some people are surprised that we got married without a long engagement, but the truth is, when you know, you  know. Why put it off?

We chose not to live together because of Mary's mother as much as anything else. I know that today, many advice givers recommend living together, but if you live, learn, and love together, sometimes it just works out. At least it did for us. Would I recommend this course to others?  I don't know.

Once when we asked Adam what it was like to be an only child, he answered truthfully, "I don't know, because that's what I am and I don't have a basis for comparison." Neither did we. In many ways, we grew up together and that means we don't have anything to compare to either. Would I change anything? Yes, I would change having the need for two surgeries three years ago, but maybe that helped us to go in a new direction. Sometimes you just need a push.

I can remember Stephany asking me what I wanted to happen when I was down with my back, and I knew that it was time to retire. I recovered from the back surgery, only to face the more serious issue with my brain. I got past that too, with a lot of help from Mary. She never felt sorry for me, and pushed me to keep on keeping on. That's part of what makes her so special.

In sports, I am going to keep it short and sweet. Boys in blue, day off. Tigers, win, Red Sox, loss. Caps, win. Bears, loss. Lions, win.

But I have rambled on long enough. When you get on a roll, sometimes you just can't stop. Ciao.