OK, so the house gas bills were high. Everything's going up, right? That's just the way it is...or so I thought. Little did I know that Dad and I could have died just a couple of weeks ago...

From the time I was a little one, I've had a fascination with rocks of all kinds. I suppose that fascination could have carried forward to my involvement in the world of rock and roll, but that might be making a real stretch...

To me, these words, opening the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, sum up much of the 1960's. Of course, I was less of a Bible student than a musician, so the Byrds' cover of Pete Seeger's song, "Turn, Turn, Turn," gave me that most poignant vision of Biblical expressions concerning those times.

For those of us who lived through the turbulent days of 1968 in Lakewood, it was a time for coming of age...

I'll be the first one to admit it. I'm no gardener. Too many allergies interfered with those "magic outdoor moments" that everyone else seemed to have during their childhood years.

I did take Horticulture in high school. I even tried to raise orchids for awhile. Having no sense of smell, I could not, for the life of me, figure out why the family had trouble with the fish emulsion fertilizer that I used to grow them with. In addition, at night my orchids needed to be in a completely dark environment. The least little streams of light and no blooms would come forth! Before long, those orchids went the way of so many other diversions of the past, as did my interest in cultivating green things...

With apologies to Charles Dickens, this story could also carry the title of his story about two cities, because our story today does, in fact, involve the two cities of Lakewood and Cleveland...

Mark March 1 from 10:00-2:00 on your calendar so you won't miss the joint St. Luke/Lakewood Historical Society Architectural Salvage Sale! The groups are setting up shop in the St. Luke school building. Entry will be on the east side of the building through the gym doors, and the sale will be held in rooms 108 and 109...

Did you ever stop and think about all the people who've inspired you over the years? These people plant little seeds of encouragement in your soul, and before you know it, those little seeds start to develop into fresh ideas of their own...

Okay, so we're not Miami Beach, and yes, I'm (hopefully) not in denial, and yes, I do "get it." Still, I will make an unabashed claim that Lakewood's weather is one of the best "weathers" around, at least here in Cuyahoga County...

When I was a teenager, a friend of mine pulled up into our driveway with a very unusual car. It was called a King Midget, and had been made right here in Ohio! King Midgets were made continually from 1946 to 1970, and they were certainly head-turners wherever they went...

Well, it came down. What's that they say? Out with the old, and in with...what, exactly?...

The cold clammy plastic oxygen tent covering my frail undersized body distorted my view of the quiet, antiseptic hospital room. The soft plastic see-through walls of the tent made the outside world appear like a funhouse to my scared little eyes. Close by, my mother, father, and a clergyman conferred in subdued tones. I'd just experienced a surgery on my throat...

This column is derived from a guitar article I wrote for a music-related publication a few years ago. As I happened across the original writing, it occurred to me that there was a message within that could be applied to the Lakewood world, as we consider the dialectic between old and new, tradition and technology, and passing the torch of change in our beautiful city...

Well, it's that time again...the second half of November. Like a perennial tidal wave, this time keeps coming back, nearly drowning me in a wave of sorrow.

On the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the First World War officially came to a close. Fortunately for America, our participation in that world-wide conflict spanned a relatively short period of time. Still, it was enough to tip the balance of power in favor of victory for the Allies.

The Pulse of the City:Green Thoughts and Brown Fields

Those of you who've been reading my columns for any length of time are certainly aware of my thoughts concerning a great many things. Like everyone else in this world, I'm a big mixed-up hodgepodge of opinions. At times, I've probably leaned a little to the left, and at others, a little to the right. Like many if not most Americans, my opinions may seem, at times, to be inconsistent and devoid of conclusions.

These days, it seems people love to confess. A day seldom passes without one person or another "telling it all" on some talk show.

One of the best memories I have of my 1960's Lakewood High School experience is that of participating in the drumline for the Lakewood High School Ranger Marching Band. Lakewood Schools have an excellent tradition of inculcating outstanding musical talent, and that was nowhere more evident than in that drumline.

I was crawling around, and over, musical instruments practically from the moment of my birth. Dad was a professional musician, and a band and orchestra director. In addition, he was a piano technician, and bought and sold instruments back in our hometown in Pennsylvania. I'd often tag along while Dad and Mom went to some church or other to work on the church's instruments.

Ever go to a flea market or a yard sale? These are fantastic places to find a virtual cornucopia of items you won't see at the local mall. I've been a history buff ever since my childhood. Once in awhile at one of these sales, an object pops up that directly relates to my historical interests. At that point, it usually goes home with me.

There's no doubt about it. The Lakewood Observer Project has been a fantastic way to promote all that's good about our fair city. Those of us who write for this paper are acutely aware of our responsibility to show our town in a positive light.

As dawn's sunlight speared the high forest at Little Mountain, it caught the curling trails of smoke from numerous campfires in a surreal visage of earlier times. As the light began to spread through the forest, silhouettes of stained canvas and butternut pyramids began to emerge from the mist. From these open tent flaps, groggy men and boys emerged from their bivouacs to begin the business of the day... and the business of the day was war.

The azure sky turned to royal blue, streaked with orange and crimson, in the western heavens over Lakewood Park. Friends and family stretched out on their lawn chairs and on the wooden benches in front of the Lakewood Hometown Bandstand.

As far as Lakewood and the Northern Ohio area go, we have known our share of warfare, although the stories are little-known and more than a little interesting.

I went to the public meeting of Lakewood VFW Post 10646's installation of officers on Thursday, May 3rd. I was there at the invitation of my good friend and Post member Harvey Streitel. They meet monthly at the Lakewood Senior Center at 16024 Madison at Northland Avenue.