Remembering Elliana: Soaking Papa at Work

The final part of the day of work at Transpro was washing and putting away the van. Candace arrived while I was washing the van one sunny day, so I had Elliana, who was three years old, rinse the van while I finished washing it. 

Another driver walked up and decided to have some fun with the situation. He told Elliana that he would give her a dollar if she sprayed me with the hose. She looked at me a bit bewildered. She loves her papa, but a dollar is a dollar.

Topping Her Dad at Something

I was greeted at the door by my youngest granddaughter.

"Hi Papa. Merry Christmas and welcome," she said. 

It was not her normal greeting. She was excited because Christmas Eve is when her father's family gathers at her home to exchange Christmas gifts. I was there for the food and the cookies, and to see the grandkids before they got started.

The cousins had not yet arrived. Her mom and dad were getting things ready for the evening. She was all mine to talk to and play with for a while.

The Problem With Knowing It All

Aside from the obvious levity in the title, and the preposterous notion that any individual has the answers to all truth, the biggest problem with knowing it all is that then the conclusions must be accepted, and evidence must not contradict the conclusions. After all, if we accept evidence contrary to that which we know, then we cannot have known it all. That creates a shorted circuit in the brains of some people. Seriously. They cannot get past the point of looping confirmation bias once a preconceived notion, long held and somewhat sacred, is challenged for truth.

I suspect there will be people who think I am talking about them in particular, and there will be others who think I am talking about other people and not them. However, I am talking about everyone in general and no one in particular. We all are susceptible to thinking we have the answers even though we don't fully understand the questions. Besides, even if we don't have the answers, we can have opinions that we don't fully understand.

And the loop begins anew.

Cashing in a Magic Dime

My granddaughter has more toys than she needs. She also has more clothes than she needs. That always poses a problem for me when it comes to gifts for birthdays. I don't want to add to the excess. Giving only money may be fine in time, but this is my granddaughter who still uses her imagination in ways that make me smile!

Gemma recently turned seven years old. She loves playing with me. We make up all kinds of games to play. However, she had to have something tangible as a gift, but not something that would add to her excesses.

Prancer (2001-2019)

On the afternoon of August 10th, a car pulled into the driveway. Unfortunately, Prancer had found a piece of ground to sun upon in the tire tracks of the driveway, and the visitor who pulled in did not see her. Her death was immediate.

Playing With Gemma

Gemma did not like me when she was a baby. Her lip would quiver when I looked at her, and she would start crying as soon as I picked her up. It took a lot of effort on my part to get her to bond with me.

Eventually we bonded, and now I am one of her favorite people to play with!

The reason she loves playing with me boils down to two elements that are important to her: she makes up all the rules, and she always wins.

Tidal Wave of Love

The water had seeped the night before. The winds were blowing steadily as predicted. The pressure was mounting with each push. The earth began shaking uncontrollably with greater and greater force. Then from within there was emergence, and it was finally over.

All the preparation and anticipation had come to fruition. Our baby had arrived!

Back to School

Though I have thought often about going back to school myself so I could finish up my Associate’s degree, or just take some classes that might interest me, I have not yet done that. However, now that I have switched from being a driver with highly irregular hours to being a dispatcher with a set schedule that begins in the afternoon, I may do it soon.

THE SHOT!

Erin’s athleticism was apparent at a very young age. She was walking by the time she was nine months old. She rode a bicycle for the first time when she was three, on the same day her sister, who is three-and-a-half years older, rode a bicycle for the first time.

That Endearing Moment with Noofie Bugg

Erin’s athleticism was apparent as a young child. She was walking at nine months, and rode a two-wheeler for the first time when she was three, on the same day her sister, who is three-and-a-half years older, rode a two-wheeler for the first time!

That Endearing Moment with Tickle Belle

Candace was a normal child in most ways. However, her ability to communicate as a young child was phenomenal! She could say intelligible words by the time she turned one, and could speak in thoughtful complete sentences by the time she was two.

Meet Goldwing Tom

I rode a Goldwing, and my name is Tom, but I did not get my nickname because of my devotion to Honda. It was a matter of timing. The story is in the post How I Became Goldwing Tom. 

My name is Tom Koecke. I have always seen things a bit differently than most people. I have also written many short articles and posts over the years. Many of those articles were lost when content farms that I wrote on closed down without notice. Many of them are still on paper and haven't made it onto my blogs.