Life in Cayuga

I had planned to write about my sons’ 40th birthday yesterday. But I got some news this afternoon that changed my thoughts.  My cousin Roy passed away unexpectedly yesterday.   Roy’s dad, Jerry, and my dad, Fred, were twins. But Roy and I weren’t particularly close. Not because of any issues or problems, but he was 12 years younger than me and the age gap was hard to bridge when we were growing up. Then, after college, about the time he got up be interesting, he moved away.  Not far, just a few hours away, but he wasn’t around like his sisters and several of our other cousins.  Sadly, the only times I got to see him in the last few years was at funerals.   This makes 6 of my 19 first cousins who have passed away.  Three on each side of the family.   On my mother's side, Greg died in 2014.  Like Roy and me, there was an age gap. He was 9 years older than me so we weren’t very close.  His brother Alan died a year later.  Alan was 5 years o...

 I have to buy a car.  I hate shopping for cars, but my little Chevy Equinox that I love has bitten the dust. But it’s 15 years old with 249,000 miles so I can’t complain.   I sold vehicles, big trucks, for 30-plus years so you’d think I would be a good trader.  I could wheel and deal with the best of them on a truck, but I’m probably the world’s worst car trader! Give me a Mack truck any day over a sedan or an SUV! And pickups are the worst!   For the past few years, I’ve driven and ridden almost exclusively in SUV’s.  No reason, other than most vehicles today are SUV’s. Recently, though, I’ve ridden in, and driven a couple of sedans. I hated them! I felt like I was falling down into the car and then had to climb out!  A friend of my father stopped by one day to show Daddy his new Toyota Highlander. It was very nice and Daddy asked how he picked that particular vehicle.  He says he went from dealer to dealer looking at vehicles. He got in and out...