Old News

 

I had a reason to buy a copy of the New York Times over the weekend. 

The last time I bought a newspaper was over ten years ago when I used to play a game with Lisa to clip coupons and then add the savings to our vacation fund.  It was not a game we played for very long.

I brought the newspaper and showed Grant who was in total amazement. He had never seen -or at least comprehended what he was looking at - a print newspaper.  The New York Times. 

The New York Times - all the news fit to print - one of the longest-running newspapers in the country. Domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews - a testament to journalism and the First Amendment. With a million hard copies in print and millions of digital copies online, the Times the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States. 

Grant seemed genuinely fascinated by the paper. He started an article "above the fold" on the front page and learned he had to go hunt the rest of the story on page A13. When he opened the paper, all of the sections fell to the ground and he exclaimed, "why don't they staple this together?!"  

Grant is very up on current events and the way of the world. It suits him to know what's going on and even have an opinion about it.  He gets his news from Tik Tok(?), Instagram (?), CNN(?).  Quite frankly, I have no idea where his generation gets their news.  At 14, he is an old soul who listens to The Eagles, AC/DC, and Rush in addition to Kendrick Lamar and the current music scene.  Nevertheless, he said, "all this is news?!" as he pulled apart the various sections and then promptly put the whole thing down and left the room withhis phone in hand.

Analog news. A dying medium in the 21st Century. 

It Turns Out, We Can Have Nice Things

We moved to North Carolina fifteen years ago. We drove from New York to a temporary rental in Fuquay-Varina, sight unseen.  Having been on the road for two days with a two-year-old and all of our personal effects, I pulled off onto Johnny Baker Road, a dirt road, and thought, "where in the Podunk, backwoods, bullshit are we?"  At the time I could not fathom that we were only 12 miles from the state capitol and that Wake County was actually in the 21st century.

Over the past decade and a half, our town of Fuquay-Varina has grown significantly. In fact, it "the Quay" has almost tripled in size. We now have two sizeable High Schools, a new and larger Middle Schools, and several new Elementary Schools. We have new places to eat and drink. Downtown is getting a facelift. There are plenty of outdoor events for three seasons! Sometime next year we will get a new shopping and entertainment center with a Target and a movie theater.  Our little town is on the map as a hot place to live in North Carolina and the U.S.!  

With all of this expansion - and the people that come with it - the town floated a bond for a new Community Center on the site of an old golf course.  The Hilltop Needmore Town Park Community Center is a brand-new welcome addition to the existing one on the other side of town.  The old center was small and always packed.  It appeared as if every available minute of the operating hours were filled with something, basketball, volleyball, rec ball.

Yesterday, the town officially cut the ribbon and opened the doors to the new center. It is a fantastic two-story structure with three separate basketball courts, racquetball courts, weight room, classrooms, and a 1/7-mile indoor track. The smell of the lacquer on the hardwood courts is fresh. It bright and wide open and a new gem for the town.

In a cool turn of events, Grant's make-up basketball game was in the gym. We found out about the game about four hours before tipoff and couldn't figure out if it was going to be at the Middle School or the old Community Center. We were happily surprised to find out we were in the new center. It was a come from behind win with Grant scoring game winning basket from the foul line!

Our town maintains a fine balance of new and old. We have the amenities of modern progress combined with an early-mid 20th century feel, modern day Mayberry.   

 

       

Heirloom

This table has been the center of our family for twenty years. It is a piece of furniture that married into the family from Lisa’s apartment on Ellis Hollow Road in Ithaca, NY.  One of the first meals Lisa ever made me was served at this table.  Aside from a very brief error on our part in 2008, it is the only kitchen table we have ever owned.

This table has seen thousands of meals in twenty years. Breakfast, lunch, and almost every family dinner since 2025.  When the boys were little and Sam lived with us, we stuffed five people around it. Yes, we have a dining room set, something from Betty’s house in Florida. The dining room is great for guests and holiday meals, but the kitchen table is where we eat, pray, and come together as a family. It is where things get done.

In its lifespan it has been a desk, an art studio, a meeting space, a game center, a homework location, and a cooking station. It has been the place where I, channeling my dad, enjoy my fist cup of coffee in the morning.

At this table we have discussed Disney trips, admonished bad behavior, praised exceptional performance, celebrated birthdays, looked forward to Camp and recalled our best family memories.  It is the center of the family without any of us realizing it.  The table is adorned underneath with TJ’s name in big wide green crayon; perhaps claiming some future ownership.  Never, ever, except for that one day in 2008, did we ever think about replacing it. 

Over the past few years, the table has shown its wear. The surface became dulled and in places the finish worn off. Some of the permanent marker marks refused to yield to Goof-Off.  The old table was worthy of being refinished.  Lisa and met Dan in the fall. Dan was a local woodworking artist who restored furniture as well as making his own pieces.  Dan gave us a reasonable estimate to strip, refinish, and return the table in four days.

The table came back to us like a new piece of furniture. The surface was silky smooth and paler, have lost a layer or two to sanding.  In contrast to its former condition, the table is stunning. Stunning for a plain old (almost generic looking), solid wood table.  The money we spent is worth another twenty plus years of service. It has transformed into an heirloom beyond value.