Blog posts by Peter DeHaan, many of which are in his book Woodpecker Wars.
I remember years ago after I prepared my house to be painted. One of the tasks was to remove the street numbers from the house, allowing for both home and numbers to be easily painted. The street numbers were above the garage door and easily viewable from the street. They weren’t always there, however. Initially, they were […]
Twelve years ago, I made an effort to cancel the delivery of a free weekly newspaper that I have been receiving for years—and never read. It turned out to be an easy thing to do and they happily took my cancellation. The delivery of that paper immediately stopped—until I installed my new mailbox! I understood […]
Candy and I have two children; she reminds me that she always wanted four. Years ago, her wish had come true. No, we were not expecting—get that thought out of your mind right now. And we were not adopting, either. We were doing this the easy way: our kids were getting married! Laura and Chris […]
Like other holidays with historical religious meaning, Easter has been significantly skewed by both custom and commercialization. Over time, the risen savior has been superseded by bunnies and eggs (reportedly symbols of fertility). Notwithstanding, Easter egg hunts and chocolate candies of all variations are delightful traditions—as long as the true focus of Easter is retained. […]
Whenever I see a robin, I become gleefully excited—really, I do! No, I am not particularly a bird lover, but I am quite affectionate for a new season, when spring has sprung. The connection is that returning robins (which are a migratory fowl) mark that spring is right around the corner and warmer weather will […]
Several years ago, Chris, our soon to be in son-in-law (at that time), was quietly amused by many of the things that he witnessed in our home. A prime source for his merriment was our flexible usage of the word “box.” In our vernacular, box can be virtually any device that is electronic in nature: […]
This past weekend, most of the United States switched to “Daylight Saving Time” (DST). This is a major hassle and source of many personal irritations: First, why does our government call this charade “daylight saving time?” Do they really think that it saves daylight? Or do they just think that they can dupe enough people into […]
I remember before, there are times after a day at work, my bride comes home and remarks, “It’s been a long day!” Being the supportive and understanding spouse that I am, I quickly concur with appropriate empathy. Unfortunately, I am seldom content to merely agree, so I sarcastically add, “Yes, I heard on the news […]
My wife and I aren’t romantic types. I’m not sure if I’m just bad at the planning and execution or if it’s not all that important to her. Nevertheless, I do put forth a futile effort from time to time. Years ago, it all started a couple of weeks before that, she asked for a […]
I remember years ago, I was wrapping things up and ready to start a blog entry when the power went out. This was peculiar as there were no storms and it was not windy—the two prime reasons for us to lose power. Our power outages were usually a few seconds to a couple of minutes, […]