Did Your Dad Carry a Knife?
By
Gerry Niskern

When I say knife, I mean a penknife. The kind that boys used to carry. My resident historian carried a penknife that he said he had owned since he was a boy. In those days, no self-respecting kid would be caught without one. He bought his when he was about eight or nine, with money from odd jobs. It was a kind of “rite of passage” for a boy.
The knife was not for show. It carried a sense of responsibility. To own it required competence and good judgement.
His penknife was about three inches of stainless steel with a walnut covering. The blade opened with a smooth click and our kids thought that he could fix almost anything with it. The knife served as a screwdriver when one wasn’t available. It also sharpened pencils, sliced an apple for sharing, and cut the stubborn ribbon on a birthday present. Many a splinter was removed with that useful tool, sterilizing first of course.
The knife was used to break down twigs and branches for kindling for the campfire. Sharpening the point of a stick for stabbing your hot dog while camping calls for a penknife. And those sharpened points for the marshmallows can only get done with dad’s penknife. If someone forgot the can opener, no problem, the penknife could easily open the can of beans.
I understand with increased security at airports and other buildings, penknives have been disappearing from men’s pockets. I guess it’s a good thing Ken was traveling before things got so restricted. He had many trips for work to other states and some Asian countries and he always had his trusty penknife in his pocket. Whether he was wearing business suit and tie or Levi 501s, when he emptied those pockets at night, the penknife, rested among the money clip and coins.
Years of use had darkened the decorative wood inlay on the side. The important purchase of a young boy years ago had served its owner well.

“Some day I wanna”
By
Gerry Niskern
Have you made your “bucket list?” Everyone does, sooner or later. Sometimes it is well planned out in detail and voiced to everyone, and others keep their list to themselves. Actually, bucket list turns off some and they prefer the title “life list” or dream list.
According to the Mac Millian dictionary (Bucket List: a list of things you want to do before you reach a certain age or before you die.) Some think they are goals you work towards and that you should write them down. Others think it should be left to Serendipity.
Some lists are extreme; like one adventurous friend who wants to climb the world’s tallest mountain. Another would like to take a long journey on the Orient Express. One would just like to fly first class someday. At this point, my list is simple. I’d like to hold a young baby, or sit all day listening to a mountain stream or take a bike ride through my childhood neighborhood.
One man I know took his mother (a retired very successful realtor) in a wheelchair to tour the State Farm Stadium when it was complete because it was on her bucket list and by the time it was completed she wasn’t able to go on her own.
I guess another form of a bucket list is the people who dream of winning the lottery and what they would do with the money. My resident historian always said, “If I ever win the lottery I’m going to fill my pickup over and over with baby strollers and drive around giving them to the poor Latino mothers I see carrying one baby and tugging along another.”
I had an elderly friend who was an art instructor. She had no family but tons of close friends who were all former students. Her dream wish was to charter a cruise ship and take all those friends on a trip around the world.
Some lists are big and some are small, but the ultimate goal is to appreciate both the big and small moments that could make life special.
Serendipity isn’t a bad way to go.

The Tiniest Sweethearts
By
Gerry Niskern

America’s tiniest sweethearts need help!
There is a growing trend among new parents today to immediately decorate their newborn baby girls with a headband containing a bow. An elastic headband is placed on their precious little heads. Why? I guess to announce to the world that they are a girl, and not be mistaken for a boy. Maybe it’s to dress them up and make them “pretty”? Thousands of photos are posted online every day of tiny baby girls, sometimes even all swaddled for the night, with those pesky headbands around their heads. Do the parents ever wonder what the baby thinks?
Have you seen those headbands? Some have gradually evolved into turbans with huge bows. I’m sure it’s turning quite a profit for the baby wear industry. Why do parents think it’s necessary to adorn their daughters from day one, but not the boys? You don’t see little boys having to wear tiny elasticized baseball caps clamped on their tender heads. Maybe some designer hasn’t thought of it yet and convinced new parents that it’s a must have?
There are hundreds of “how to “ books out there on how to raise a baby. They all claim to know the best way to go about it. Of course, nobody really knows what a baby thinks. To begin with, thanks to the phenomenon that Sigmund Freud called “infantile amnesia”, nobody can remember what it was like to be a baby. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what they are thinking about what’s happening to them on their new journey?
In my opinion, and it’s probably just mine, those sweet little baby girls are all beautiful just as they are. There is plenty of time, when they get old enough to make their desires known, to dress them up. If they want to wear huge hair bows and have enough hair to support them, then fine. Little girls need to grow up with a feeling of confidence in themselves. They should hear validation of their worth as a person just because they exist. That solid foundation of her special personality should be established without any hint that she needs to be adorned with anything!
A lot has been written about teenage girl’s lack of confidence causing serious mental health problems. Of course there is no simple solution, but a good start would be for parents to give their little daughters the knowledge that they are a worthy human being just because they ARE! Parents must make every effort early to curb the idea that their girls need to be adorned to be loved.
Celebrate Valentines day by taking those pesky elastic headbands off those little Sweethearts!