From a practical standpoint, and if I am anything I am practical, well, practically, this year has gone by rather quickly. The fact I have survived this past year has to count for something. I was musing on this with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage just the other day. I was feeling rather comfortable with myself and was congratulating myself on making it through another year. After all, the facts speak for themselves. "Well," my wife began rather deliberately, "I guess you did … [Read more...]

Some people understand compliments and take them as they come. Other people, like myself, wouldn’t know a compliment if it hit them in the face like a pie. For a long time I had been under the impression my wife was giving me compliments. It takes a husband a long time to understand his wife and by the time he understands her, she has morphed into the next level of womanhood. Th e man who thinks he knows his wife needs a psychiatrist, preferably a woman psychiatrist. For a number of years … [Read more...]

Making mistakes is not in the resume of the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. That was, up until now. I am not known as Mr. Perfect by any stretch of the imagination. If there is a mistake to be made, I have already made it or it is on my “Bucket List.” I have made a lifetime profession of making mistakes. Sooner or later, I am going to come to the end of this and stop making mistakes. I suppose I will have to live as long as Methuselah to achieve that goal, and believe me, I do not plan … [Read more...]

Maybe because I am getting older I am feeling more of the strain of the activity of the season: shopping, which is not my favorite pastime any time of the year. I cannot say that for the other occupant in our usually merry domicile. If anybody is a shopping queen, the trophy has to go to the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. I do not know if she invented shopping, I just know it is in her DNA. In our house, DNA means “Deal Negotiator Authority.” If she cannot make a deal, nobody can. I … [Read more...]

The house is quiet now, although a few hours ago it was thumping with all kinds of noise and chatter. Once again, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I sponsored another Thanksgiving dinner. My role, of course as in previous years, is to stay out of the kitchen and let the wife do what only the wife can do. My sponsorship is finished right there. Now everything is quiet and I am sitting back reflecting on the marvelous dinner and time with the family. In the quietness of the time, I … [Read more...]