Charlie and me were paying our bills the other day. The way we do this is, we sit down and pay ‘em together. It doesn’t take that long. We try to do it every couple of weeks. At least once a month. It helps if you put it in the calendar. I know some folks just do it automatically, right from their paycheck, but we’ve been doing it this way forever and it helps us stay on the same page. When things are tight (and they have been off and on over the years) bill paying isn’t my favorite thing to do. But the fact is, it’s gotta be done. Easier to show up and …

Charlie’s helping me out with my blog while I’m busy dealing with the stuff you have to do after someone dies. Dad did a good job of setting things up right, but there’s still a bunch of details to take care of. Thanks, Charlie! A Non-Issue  Our gas range, of course, comes with a timer When your stuff is cooked, it lets out a beep A beep that repeats ’til you hit the button A beep sure to wake me if I am asleep A dependable sound we’ve come to rely on When baking or cooking all manner of grub A beep, I’m afraid, that has kind of decayed Into something more like you would …

Boy oh boy. What is it they say? If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a minute. Ain’t that the truth. The Poet Laureate of Mahoosuc Mills tackles that very subject in his latest. Arctic Blast How about that arctic blast We got the weekend before last? Forty below with wind chill factor! How could any creature hack ‘er? January weren’t as bad As you’d expect, so we were glad Suddenly the temp’s, they fell And blessed us with this Arctic Hell T’wasn’t fit for man or beast We didn’t like it in the least, The dog and I, t’was just too cold To go out for our daily stroll So cold, …

Have you ever had a chore that just gets shuffled from one to-do list to another? Something that needs to be fixed or put away or thrown away, but you never to get to it. “Maybe tomorrow,” you say. But tomorrow never comes. And by the by, you don’t even notice anymore when you jiggle the handle of the pesky toilet. Or automatically bump your hip against that drawer that sticks when you come to shut it Well, you’re not alone. Charlie got inspired. Not to do his chore, but to write a poem about not doing it.  I’ll Get To It One Of These Days There’s a nail head that catches my shovel, it …