FRONT PAGE ALIENS

We have been gone for some time.. other events sadly took precedent, such as the death of a parent.. COVID cases... hospitalization of another parent.. and hospitalization of a younger member of the family. We are .. back.. back-ish?  We will try.. Front Page Aliens still exists.. you just have to get us at the right 'sighting'..  x x x  I try gauging the mood of the holidays by how happy or not happy my own son is.. Now ten years into life, his belief in Santa is waning–or has waned. At times it feels he is playing along with adults and ponders to himself, “they can’t really believe this, can they?” Before bed for the past few nights, Ayden’s normally talkative demeanor in an attempt to say away just a little bit longer has been pushed aside. Instead he seems to be a more pensive, thoughtful, and even concerned young man.. For two nights now, Ayden told me this before dozing off: Something is missing. When pressed for more information, he simply responded he doesn’t kno...

 I am not one to throw vacation photos at you and demand attention.. But remember those old days? The big projector? The highlights reel was so often painful to view, right?  Now we can welcome the Instas and the FB version. Just a click and a like, and forget the rest..  However I must pause to tell you of the week in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.. mixed with a few nights on a cold mountain high above the Sevier County, Tennessee... This is a cool mixture of the Old South, the new South, history, and quite frankly, profiteering off of tourism.  It has Dollywood, sure.. but also tons of other attractions that go beyond just the typical ski lift and binoculars.  We are talking islands.. ferris wheels.. tons of restaurants.. museums.. And sure, some moonshine thrown in.. We love our history.. so before we move further, here is some:  Pigeon Forge was once part of North Carolina. Settlers first reached the area in 1788, when the area was governed by North Carol...

  Suddenly Facebook ‘memories’ from last year are being shared. Yes it has been a year.. ONE SOLID YEAR.. Friday the 13th .. March .. the moment that shall live in infamy. That is when a slow motion horror show developing on our television screens.. in our cities and states.. and in our personal lives. Hindsight is ‘2020’ in 2021. But it’s not quite perfect yet. That said, we know that the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold many weeks –if not months– before government officials stated it did. We also recall vividly the early days when the media blitz said not to wear a mask.. fast forward a year and we’re being told to wear two. The entire year was spectacle. From European shut downs to travel bans, presidential briefings to bleach memes and a new President.. The entire affair can be counted as 12 solid months today of high strangeness. Friday the 13th. Just one year on. Indulge me for a minute as I take a step back in time.. 365 days of solitude and sadness, melancholy and refle...