PATRICK MCVAY

WRITER

My Musings

This text is currently hidden by a css change. Alow's me to go directly to the category description because it is editable in the front end,

Hold That Rail

I would calculate that roughly half to three quarters of my conversations with my teenage children regard how to behave sensibly and avoid making stupid mistakes that you will regret later. I possess a Swiss army knife of advice, including these: bring water; a light sweater will help if the a/c is too high; the sun is low so wear a brimmed hat; hold the railing on these stairs.

That I'm mostly ignored when I say these things is no surprise. After hearing dad issue the same advice over and over, the value of the words has decreasing benefit. Indeed, after a while I begin to think that I should start to use "reverse psychology." Psychologists have a word for this: "psychology." There is nothing reverse about it. But anyway, in order to get my teens to bring water, I might say "whatever you do, don't bring water." To hell with Dad and his stupid advice! I'm bringing gallons of water! And sunscreen!

Of course, I'm a classic "do as I say not as I do" type of person. OK, mostly not – I tend to bring a rolling suitcase of items I might need "just in case" when I make a five-minute trip to the park. But occasionally, I could use my own advice. To wit, this morning I woke up in the middle Quebec City (awakened by chickens out the back window, no less), and excited for the day and wishing to give my wife some extra sleep to recover from our fancy dinner than ended at 11:30 PM, gathered all my stuff – shorts, a sweater, my backpack, my wallet, my watch – and then tried to sneak down the stairs carrying these things, which left me unable to hold the railing. You can imagine what happened next.

Somehow, falling down a flight of uncarpeted wooden steps left me with just a few very minor injuries. I seem to have the same number of teeth and eyes that I had yesterday, all bones are intact, and I managed to acquire just a few new battle scars. 

Lesson learned: prior to offering advice to your teens, practice saying your piece in front of a mirror.

Continue reading
  340 Hits

 

 

J'Biden Era Haikuage

 

People's Arms. That's right!

200 million shots

In 100 days

 

We are good people

But we still have far to go

Repair. Restore. Heal.

 

There's nothing new here

The Affordable Care Act

We're restoring it 

 

America's Day

Democracy is fragile

The world is watching 

 

Strategy is based

On Science, not politics

Truth, not denial

 

 

Subscribe To The Blog

Produce This Audio Play!

Ever wanted to produce a radio play?  Think you have the mettle?  Read on!

Tag Cloud

Higher Education Coyotes Pats My Parents Email weather Texting COVID-19 The Old Days My grandparents Ice Dancing coronavirus Martinis Sports Soul Coughing Good Reads Grass Skiing Rabbit Hole Mike Doughty Bands I've seen Boston Scotch and Sirloin Them Kids afterlife town square Bicycles Big Shoes seasons plan mid-winter vacations Imaginings Audio NPR Christmas Bunker Bands I haven't seen People I know Dad advice Royal Stuff Hot Air Balloon Hawaii Allergies the future Bands I've Seen Soviet Union Hand Planes Bob Dylan Beer Ketchup Music Sugarbush New England TV Eating and Drinking acerbic high school principal Bodysurfing My sisters Communication Channels soapbox rantings Golf 1980s Drumming baseball Skating punk music Bikes Mass General Hospital Audubon Bar tambourrine Stairs Quebect Hache Verde Things I've done Canadiana Vaccines The future Chowder Vaughn Snow Guns Food Ticketmaster Putin technology Accounting Biden Cats Marketing Gimmicks Cornhole star Peacekeeping Trump Spoon the band Barber Shops Tom Waits Weather Zoom Skiing Mustard Rock Bands COVID The Past Yeast Roommates I've Had Belgian Ales China curling shoes Syracuse midwinter vacations Folk Music Mom and Dad gathering throngs nukes Theater War and Peace vacation Ukraine Hurricanes Spice Girls Diseases Reveillon The Future Cars Red Sox Art Canada When I die Knots Advertising Plastic Guns and Ammo Brain Surgery Wind Earth Car Dealerships Work My Estate high winds Climate Change Eclipse the sea US Senate Me cornhole Fiction Politics As Usual Existential Crisis Religion Soup Liz Phair