Friday Donuts

Friends, When it comes to gratitude, I prefer to focus on the little things we often take for granted. Specific things like the long hug I shared with my daughter last night after Thanksgiving dinner, or my childhood friend’s text message to share a photo of his Friday donut, that woke me up this morning (so much better than an alarm clock). The contrast of the warm blankets over my body with the extra-crisp air that fills my lungs, as I write this note (I forgot to turn the heat back on after last night's capacity Thanksgiving gathering); or the anticipation of hearing your response and thoughts after reading it. These specific moments give meaning to the broad categories used to generate thankfulness lists. My earlier sentiment could also be expressed as “family, friends, peace and hope” —accurate, but sterile and trite. By framing the things for which I’m grateful as specific moments, I quickly realize the five to ten broad categories they fall into are actually a litany of smil

Friends, Walls come in all sorts, types, shapes, sizes and colors. Think of an adjective, and there’s likely to be a wall that fits the bill. There are great walls, such as Pink Floyd’s iconic album, or China’s Mongol hoard deterrent. Quirky walls, say, Wall, SD’s Drug and Corn Palace. Figurative (firewall), past (Berlin Wall), scary (Walmart) and wrong (border wall). From the stock market (Wall Street) to stockades (log walls), there are walls all around us (hopefully, equipped with doors so we’re not trapped). Recently, I’ve been working on another kind of wall, one that is apparently popular at receptions, for my son’s wedding next week: a donut wall. My long term exploration of random donut associations somehow led my future daughter in law to believe building this odd donut display might be a fitting task for me. And so, it is with great pride that I present my creation (donut mind if I do). As for keeping it stocked with the dozen dozens it can hold, I’m pretty sure that won’t be

Friends, I’ve never officially held a cool, edgy title. You know the ones. Technoking (Elon Musk), Master of Coin (also at Tesla), Wizard of Want, Digital Overlord... you get my drift. This week, Michael Fiumano shared another edgy title I’ll likely never hold: Dodge’s freshly minted   Chief Donut Maker. .. you get my   Tokyo  drift. Sadly, the CDM won’t cook circular pastries in a deep fryer. Instead, they will burn circular rubber in a Dodge Hellcat (now there’s a company car!). Good luck getting 50,000 miles out of those tires! The cynic in me thinks a tire exec may have pitched the CDM idea to Dodge, inception style, as a ploy to sell more Goodyear Eagles. Whatever the case, all this talk of donuts has sparked the urge to get in my Firebird and buy some Donuts (and maybe make a couple). Happy Friday!

Friends, My first flight of the pandemic era put a lot of emphasis on face masks. While continuous mask usage can be taxing, I must admit eating and drinking were a particular challenge. That said, putting on your face mask between bites and sips (as advised) had the added benefit of serving as a napkin (flavor saver!). For what it’s worth, I highly advise removing your mask towards your chin. I found out the hard way that removing it upward results in a blindfold which adds a degree of difficulty to that bite or sip you’re trying to take. Of particular concern was the mid-flight announcement that “refusal to wear a mask may result in removal from the plane” —talk about a harsh face mask penalty! Granted, it may have been a recording, and they may have also made this remark prior to take-off, however, it seemed like a particularly ominous threat at 10,000 feet (do offenders at least get a parachute as part of the ordeal?). Finally, it seems personal alcohol is no longer allowed —ironic