A weekly columnist since 2001, in these 45 short stories Rick Ryckeley reminisces about the adventures of childhood, the joys and challenges of marriage, and general observations of life in this humorous collection of family-oriented stories. That will cause readers to pause, look at their lives, and the world around them differently – and smile.Brain vs. Mouth: In the epic battle between brains and mouth, why does mouth always win? My first experience of opening mouth and inserting foot came while in the third row over, third seat back, in Old Mrs. Crabtree’s third grade class.Surviving Childhood: Growing up at 110 Flamingo Street, there were no bike helmets, no car seats, and no child safety caps on bottles. Looking back now, it’s amazing any of us survived childhood. But oh what fun we had! Two Little Green Fruit Loops: The little boy and his dad never knew how they affected me. For me, from this moment on, our yearly family reunions took on an entirely different light.The Little White Duck: Trying to write a story about how and why one group of people moves away from another is hard to do without offending someone. Thankfully, the inhabitants of the lake and the little white duck were the perfect metaphors to illustrate such a flight.