Lessons for a lifetime

by | Jul 2, 2026 | Deep Thoughts, Family | 0 comments

My wife’s cousin Kelly recently retired from teaching.

(That’s Kelly on the left, when she and Mrs. Dubbatrubba had a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-style adventure recently.)

She spent 30+ years at Catholic grade schools in the D.C. area.

Over those three-plus decades, thousands of kids crossed paths with her. In the classroom. In the lunchroom. In the hallways. At the school plays, and the sporting events. At Sunday Mass too.

The lessons those kids learned from her didn’t always come from a textbook.

She taught them kindness, by showing up with a smile on her face, even on the tough days.

With her sense of humor, she taught them that learning can be fun.

By being attentive, she let them know they mattered.

By demanding their best effort, she inspired them.

Those lessons don’t stop when the kids move on. They carry them with them, wherever they go, for the rest of their lives.

Kelly’s out of the classroom, but her lessons are still going strong. What an amazing legacy!

The fur will fly

by | Jun 26, 2026 | Family, Funny Business | 0 comments

“Tell me you have a golden retriever without telling me you have a golden retriever.”

Bibo is our official greeter at home. Doesn’t matter if you’ve been gone two weeks or two minutes. He’s always happy to see you. Or to meet you if you’re a stranger. Unfailingly friendly. Loving.

Maybe we should be more like our dogs.

Only less hairy.

Park it here!

by | Jun 22, 2026 | Deep Thoughts, Family | 0 comments

Earlier this month, Mrs. Dubbatrubba, our son Peter and I went out west, along with some friends.

Five of the six folks in the photo above had run the Grand Teton half-marathon the day prior to this hike. Three of the people in the photo went on to run the Yellowstone half-marathon a week later. I’ll give you three guesses as to which of folks above was the sluggard who did neither race.

(And yes, I know the background of the picture looks like an Olan Mills studio backdrop – but it’s legit!)

Grand Teton National Park for three days.

A day trip to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve…

… including a hike through a cave.

Shoshone Falls.

Mesa Falls.

Three days in Yellowstone National Park.

We hiked all over God’s green earth out there (and God’s scorched earth too!) and it was glorious! I’d never been to that area of the country before, and loved every bit of it. (It helped that it was warm – don’t know that I’d love the snow.)

Ken Burns has a documentary called The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. And he’s right. Thank goodness that back in the day, the powers that be decided to preserve these gorgeous areas and make them “for the people” in perpetuity. (Nowadays the powers that be would probably try to put up hotels and golf courses.)

It’s such a treat to be out in nature.

Nature does quiet the mind. And it’s a salve for the soul too!

Working (or not) for the weekend

by | May 19, 2026 | Family, Music | 0 comments

Here’s a quick overview of what I was up to late last week (some of which my faithful readers — all three of them — already know about):

Thursday night: Jason Narducy house concert… at our house.

Friday night: Seeing my son Gabriel’s band The Collies play at a bar in Mt. Lookout.

Saturday during the day: working on a basement clean-up project.

Saturday night: Maggie Rose/Molly Tuttle concert in Lexington, KY with Gabriel. (MP Gannon rules!)

Sunday morning: kayaking with my friend Matt. His wife passed away back in February. Friday would’ve been her 50th birthday. I’m making an concerted effort to catch up with him on a regular basis. (I also organized a happy hour with some of our old co-workers a few weeks back.)

Sunday afternoon: recording two “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcasts with my buddy Dave, and recording our breaks for the Inhailer Radio Indie 500, happening this weekend.

Sunday night: Built to Spill/Wussy concert at Ludlow Garage, with Gabriel and my daughter Leah. (First concert that we’ve gone to together!)

I’m not retired (yet!) but when the topic comes up in casual conversation (as it often does for people in my age bracket), some folks interrogate me with variations on these questions:

  1. “But what will you do all day when you’re retired?” and
  2. “Aren’t you afraid of getting bored?”

My answer to #1 is “more of the above” – more concerts, more time with my family (hmm, I probably should reverse the order of those two…), more home projects, more kayaking (and yes, more pickleball), more travel, more time with friends, more reading, more writing, more podcasting, and more of whatever the heck I want to do. (And yes, probably more naps.)

And my answer to #2 is an emphatic NO! I have waay too many interests for that to happen.

Right now I’m working for the weekend. I am starting to look forward to a permanent weekend. Especially if they’re like this past one!

M.P.G. the M.V.P.

by | May 18, 2026 | Family, Music | 2 comments

On Saturday, I drove down to Lexington, KY with my oldest kid Gabriel to see an outdoor show at The Burl. (Great place to see a show, btw.)

It was a co-headlining tour, Maggie Rose and Molly Tuttle. I’d just seen Molly Tuttle a few weeks prior. And yes, I’ve been known to double down on artists I enjoy seeing. (Looking at you, Gladie.) But the real reason for the road trip was the guitarist for Maggie Rose’s band. MP Gannon. The dude’s an amazing guitar player.

And he has a fantastic, soulful voice to boot.

And I’d say that even if he weren’t my first cousin once removed.

But he IS my first cousin once removed, and that makes it even cooler! (I know him better as Michael Patrick.)

This doesn’t exactly qualify as a news bulletin, but I love music. And seeing my cousin’s kid up on stage, in front of a rapt audience, doing his thing… goosebumps the entire time! (I can only imagine how my cousin Patty and her husband Paul feel when they see their son on stage.)

In her set, Maggie performed a cover of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” — a ballad made famous by Bonnie Raitt*. If you’re gonna do that classic (or any Bonnie Raitt song, really), you’d better have the voice to back it up.

And Maggie does, in spades.

*that song was co-written by former Cincinnati Bengal defensive tackle Mike Reid, a two-time Pro Bowler whose songwriting career has far eclipsed his gridiron greatness.

Maggie recorded a duet version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” song with Vince Gill. Which means MP has some pretty big shoes to fill in concert. TBH, I prefer his voice to Vince’s. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my first cousin once removed. (But, as previously established, he IS!)

Speaking o’ big shoes to fill, for Molly Tuttle’s encore, Maggie Rose and MP joined Molly’s band for rousing renditions of “She’s a Rainbow” by the Rolling Stones and “Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band. MP sang a verse of the latter – meaning he was channeling Levon Helm… merely my favorite member of one of my favorite bands. (Because Levon, the only non-Canadian member of The Band, was from my old stomping grounds of Arkansas.)

MP is based in Nashville. And as the Lovin’ Spoonful famously told us in their song “Nashville Cats”:

Well, there’s thirteen hundred and fifty two
Guitar pickers in Nashville
And they can pick more notes than the number of ants
On a Tennessee ant hill

To snag a gig as a touring “guitar picker” is a big hill to climb. To become an integral part of Maggie Rose’s band in just a year with them is a testament to his talent, and his dedication to the craft.

In fact, MP and Maggie are doing a duo tour this summer, opening up for Melissa Etheridge and Wynonna Judd.

AND MP still writes and records his own music, and produces other artists.

In other words, he’s carving out a career in music. In Music City. That’s music to my first-cousin-once-removed ears!

Keep on rollin’

by | Apr 19, 2026 | Family, Funny Business | 0 comments

“Chad” (a.k.a. our 2008 Honda CR-V) recently hit a mileage milestone.

240,000 miles. And he’s not dead yet.

Most of those miles were courtesy of previous owners. We got “Chad” (our kids named him… er, I mean, it) nearly 8 years ago. He already had clocked 181,000 by then. As “used” as used can be.

But nearly 60K is certainly something to celebrate. That’s a lot of trips to high school for our kids. A lot of trips to work for me (although I often take the bus – Chad deserves a break). Grocery gettin’. Driving to pickleball or concerts (my two most frequent trips).

Yes, we’ve had to put some money into repairs and general maintenance. But we’re probably making the equivalent of a monthly car payment about two or three times a year, instead of 12. And I’ve got a mechanic who does side-hustle work on nights and weekends for much lower rates than the dealer or other repair shops.

“Buy and hold” – that’s our stock philosophy and our car philosophy.

There’s no touchscreen display. No bluetooth. No backup camera. No heated seats. Nothing fancy. Just dependable. When you turn the key, Chad starts. And goes. And keeps on going. And as long as that happens, we’ll keep rolling with Chad.