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Molly started walking about a week ago and I have found it more terrifying than anything else. I am certainly proud to see her summon up the courage to take those un-supported steps. And the unrestrained glee she has can’t be denied.

But the part that scares me is that she is so fast and not very responsive to commands such as, “No, don’t (fill in the dangerous thing)!” She loves to throw her arms in the air and scream as she goose-steps out the door. She climbed the stairs so fast yesterday that it was all I could do to keep up. And she doesn’t really understand gravity.

The next few months are sure to keep me busy.

When I was in Honduras in 1995-96, getting a parasite, amoeba, or other ‘bug’ was just a matter of time. It happened. And usually the remedy was a $1 trip to the doctor followed by a $3.00 trip to the pharmacy. Sometimes just a trip to the pharmacy was all that was needed.

However, when the pharmacy was closed or far away, we learned to “hold off” bugs by taking a shot or two of tequila. I believe it was a Peace Corps volunteer who gave out this recipe. Amazingly, it worked.

One of my friends just told me of the success of this insta-cure when he suddenly realized that he ate some spoiled turkey for lunch. With belly gurgling and nausea building, he made a mid-day, mid-week trip to the liquor store and got a pint of the golden wild potion. After one quick shot, he felt the gurgling subside. Then he was able to go back to work.

In theory, it makes sense. Alcohol kills the bacteria that causes the big problems. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this as a replacement for a doctor’s visit or doing just about anything other than taking mid-day shots of tequila. And I really don’t even remember telling him this story - I was probably drinking tequila at the time.

Many people that I know would totally disagree with me, but I think baseball is the perfect sport. There is no clock, for one. No one player can make the team win - it takes the whole team. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains. And as “slow” as some people say the game is, the actual action of the game is extremely fast. As someone who has had the stitches of a baseball branded into his skin on more than one occassion, I can say this is true with absolute certainty.

It is a rare moment when a ‘no hitter’ is achieved at any level. It is hard enough to pitch a full game. Pitching a full game and not allowing a hit is an incredible feat. When it happens in the Majors, it is very rare indeed. But when it is achieved by a cancer survivor, it becomes inspirational.

Having had two close friends recently diagnosed with cancer, it is a constant reminder that life is very fragile. It is great to see people not only survive this horrible disease, but to thrive in spite of it. Way to go, Mr. Lester!

After reading this story, (thanks M) I realize I should have invented this sooner.

“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off.”

My super brainy brother in law Larry Snyder insists on going to Chipotle every time he is in Atlanta. For some reason, call it my resistance to a company that used to be owned by McDonald’s, I never indulged. That is, I didn’t indulge until about 2 weeks ago. I should have known better. Larry is one smart guy.

My wife says that I have a sickness. I stopped by Chipotle one day for lunch just to see what the big deal was. As it turns out, I ate there 5 more times during the next week. I have never done such a thing. I rarely eat at the same place twice in a given month. (ok, maybe “FM”, but that’s about it).

After living in San Francisco, I became a bit snobby about burritos. Chipotle is the burrito snob paradise - all of the chicken, beef and pork that they serve was raised without all the normal pharmaceutical injections that are standard in our livestock production in the U.S.

I’m not vegetarian anymore so I’m psyched to find a place that will be less likely to pass on antibiotics and steroids when I do choose to partake the dead animal flesh. And thanks, Larry, I should have listened to you sooner!