Richard is home for a very welcome visit, and after a nice dinner we spent the first night on our backyard patio, catching up.
What a pleasant time it was! Sitting outside on a warm, quiet summer evening, talking and sipping on cold beer and puffing on cigars as fragrant smoke rises into the air. Penny and Kasey lolling in the yard, sprawled on the cool lawn and nosing through the grass. Dogs barking in the suburban distance and fireflies flickering in the gathering dusk. The Who, then Marvin Gaye, then Lynyrd Skynyrd playing on the iPod speaker system. And far above the trees and bushes framing the back yard, the sky grows progressively darker until the Milky Way is distinctly visible directly overhead and it is time to call it a night.
This is why Americans want to own their own home. It is very special to have a place you and your family can truly call your own.
Some of you may wonder how UJ celebrates his birthdays. After all, how do you properly commemorate a special day like a birthday when you already seem to spend much of your time tanned and shirtless in some exotic warm weather location, gambling and getting kissed on the cheek by a woman in a bikini — and occasionally holding some form of shellfish with your head apparently framed by a halo, besides?
