TeamReedBlog.2020

I've been visiting with the fine folks of Claymont for the past several months and am happy to introduce you to the fifth installment of my Heartland Revenge Series: "Reclamation." You can find it here in paperback , and if you're a Prime member, you can read it for free in ebook form  via Kindle Unlimited. My more-than-semi-but-not-quite-full-retirement has given me time to reflect on this series. I even went back to correct some of the more egregious typos in the first book, " Retribution ." This time around, I think I managed - with huge help from the Captain and Lyn & Amy - to keep those to a minimum and to improve the overall writing. Any errors are mine, of course, and I hope you'll overlook any you see. Also, Donna and Jason were instrumental in keeping me credible (ish?) with regard to the goings on at a surface coal mine, and Justin offered great insights, too. Grateful to Shannon and Amanda, as well. It's hard, for me at least, to drop ...

I've placed myself on an austerity plan for the next 30 days (starting yesterday) so if you see me, please don't offer me a drink, a dessert or an opportunity to buy something fun.  If I could lock myself in a room to deprive myself, I would, and that's what it will take for me to survive this month. Because I'm weak, weak, weak. If I was a gambler, I would definitely not bet on me keeping to the restrictions. But I'm going to try. First, the cash part of my austerity plan: My beloved Mustang has run into a bit of maintenance issues that have made my mechanic happy and my checkbook sad. It's 20 years old, so I should give it up. But I'm not ready. The convertible top is the biggest issue to-date. To the disbelief of the guy who's going to replace it, the frame is bent, a condition apparently unheard of in the Mustang line. All I know is the top won't go down all the way. That means I can't possibly see Nathan and Elayna until it's fixed. So I...

When I was young, my grandmother used to take me with her when she visited my Aunt Shirley, Uncle Larry and cousin Lori after they moved to Columbus, Ind. from our hometown about 90 minutes westward. Aunt Shirley, my mother's sister, married Uncle Larry, my father's brother. They met when they were about five years old and married 12 years later. They built a successful business together and retired together, returning near their hometown for their golden years. I don't remember many occasions where one wasn't without the other. Her recent death ended that. Seventy-five years of knowing each other, 63 years of marriage, a lifetime of dry jokes, euchre nights, bowling and collecting all sort of glass and cast iron cookware. There are great photos of Shirley wearing an "I Dream of Jeanie" like dress for a Homecoming float, and Larry suited up for a brother's wedding. They were super cool. Uncle Larry is the strong, silent type unless he has a story to tell,...

I don't know that I've spoken a lot on here about my niece, Annie Williams, but I might have mentioned how much I admired her eloquence at my sister's graveside service nearly three years ago now.   Back when she was a little girl, I used to drive her and her cousins around in my (then) red convertible, driving too fast to make them squeal and send their hair flying in the wind. When I'm very lucky, I get to do the same thing with Annie's kids, Elayna and Nathan. Because, of course, Annie, daughter of Debbie and Steve, is now a grown-up girl, married to Justin Williams, and one of the best people I know. It's easy to admire her. Forty is on her horizon, but she's still a gifted athlete. She's a pharmacist. A coach. Her kids are awesome, and she is supremely grounded even though, as I was reminded this weekend, she was queen of her high school prom.  She also has a Christian faith that rivals my father's. It's something to behold. Like him, she...

Jeff and I grew up so differently it's a wonder we ever found our way to each other.  For example, music has been a constant in his life. His dad, who was in a professional jazz band in his youth, introduced Jeff, Jen and James to folk/rock bands like the Kingston Trio , The Ventures , The Limeliters and Duane Eddy . But then, cousin, Stephen, introduced Jeff to FM radio. He heard Ram Jam's "Black Betty" and was transfixed.  I think he found New Wave music on his own, and then a whole cornucopia of other genres came via his days as a radio DJ in college. Rap, apparently came during his Army days. Absent from the above? Country music and church music, except for Johnny Cash .  Because, well. Johnny Cash. Oh, sure, he knew some Baptist hymns from his Sunday School days where his parents luxuriated in some alone time by spending their three little ones to a local church. But he didn't get indoctrinated like I did with Pentecostal church three times a week and ever...

There was a moment when I glanced into my basement and wondered when I became a hoarder. Getting to the far end of the unfinished side - storage and laundry - was downright dangerous. It's better now, but the aftermath of our later-than-normal return from Maine and our annual New Year's Eve party was ugly. Not so our last couple of weeks. Maine was gorgeous after a big snowstorm on Christmas Eve eve. For Team Tryzbiak, in town from Orlando, the snow was magical. For Mainers, it wasn't quite enough to make for good sliding. But if you've never experienced real snow, it was more than enough to make for an honest-to-goodness white Christmas. Ali, Beau and Gavin made the most of it, as well as the mostly frozen lake. Uncle Peter, who years ago routinely used frozen China Lake to shorten his work commute, had been inspecting the ice and declared parts of it were safe for exploration. Ali and Beau checked it out before Gavin and his parents, Deb and Tim, arrived.  Beau and Al...