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Many, many years ago, in the innards of the Columbine State, there lived a gentle man named Larry. A family man, was he; a good provider for his family of daughters. Often a skeptic of their activities. Particularly, skeptical of the activities that were promoted by his wife.

This quiet, gentle man lived in a community that loved him, trusted him, and, in general, thought he was “the cat’s meow.” He went to work every day at a job where he was well-respected by his fellow co-workers. A retailer was he – and a very fine retailer, indeed!

You know how we say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? Well, that’s not exactly true. Today, it’s often thought of as a myth. Still we use the idiom referring not only to whether senior dogs can learn to do new things, as well as whether human seniors can do the same. Being set in our ways, we older folks like the “way things were,” more than the “new-fangled happenings.” The new music. The new styles of art. New housing designs. These “new” things just don’t fit with our idea of what should be!

In today’s world, we use a stone to represent the month of the year in which we were born; thus, we call them birthstones. My birthstone, because my birth was in July, is ruby. Personally, I love the red of the stone that I have –  a gift from Larry, years ago. He was a department manager and later a store manager at Sears stores in my metropolitan area before moving on to other retail enterprises. He was, at heart, a retailer and a good one.

I got to thinking the other day as I drove by the building that still has, “Frank, the Pizza King,” on the sign. It’s not Frank’s anymore. In fact, it has not been Frank’s for years. His daughter took over the business when he passed.

February really is a funny month. First, it is not thirty days, not thirty-one days; rather it is either twenty-eight or twenty-nine days. It’s as though the designers of our calendar just couldn’t decide what to do with all of those extra hours  left over from other months.

It’s three o’clock in the morning. I’ve awakened after three hours of sleep and after lying awake for at least an hour, I decided to get up. It is not my custom to lie in bed and not sleep. I think. That’s what happens when I’m lying in bed and not sleeping. So, I decided to come to the computer and write, instead of randomly thinking about things.

I remember when my daughters were teens, we had a good friend named Chalmerse. His was the beauty shop where he had eight-to-ten female beauticians working six days a week. Not all of them at the same time; this is a profession where the people holding these positions can set their own hours according to the schedules of the home and family that they need to keep.

Getting help from my friend WEB, I explored the spellings and definitions of chachkies. It is also spelled tchotchkes and so many other ways, depending on the person writing the word. I prefer chachkies, but I don’t prefer the definition given. As defined by friend WEB, chachkies is a Yiddish word for trinkets and collectables. Well, I can agree with that definition – more later about that. But, the Urban Dictionary’s definition does not sit well with me. Chachkies in my house cannot be described as “a small piece of worthless crap, a decorative knick knack with little or no purpose.” Everything in my house has a purpose; nothing should be described as “crap.”

I may be the world’s best at losing things. Kitchen ware. My cell phone. Earrings. You name it – I can lose it. When Larry lived, he was the best finder of lost things. Even when I didn’t know what the thing looked like, he could find it. Say it was a kitchen implement that had a specific shape. He’d look until he’d find it. So, losing stuff was not such a trouble for me. I’d just ask Larry for help.

I’m writing this blog on Monday, December 29, 2026. It is about three weeks, and I will be in surgery to have my left shoulder replaced. Some of what you will read here is speculation because I don’t really know much about the work that needs to be done. I have told my surgeon, DO NOT tell me what you are going to do. Tell me what you have done after the work is finished.