My parents bought a time share in Lee Massachusetts so they would go away at least two weeks a year. One week was in the summer and one in the winter. The summer week was a perfect week, the last week of August where at Tanglewood the Boston Pops and the Boston Symphony would practice. It was a wonderful week of culture. The other week was early in March, and they would often trade it for another location. One year they exchanged it for a place in New Hampshire for skiing. 

That winter we packed the car up and took the long drive up. Our family is not big skiers, but we thought it might be fun. We were in a town in the middle of nowhere, and this was in the early 80s, so not much was built up at the time. Unfortunately, the weather was unseasonably warm, and there was extraordinarily little snow on the montains. To put it simply, they were all closed for skiing. 

We were up there for a week, and within a day we were bored out of our minds. My parents decided we should go into town and see if there was anything going on. It is a quaint small town with few shops. After going into a couple of shops we stumbled into a local hardware store. This was before the days of Home Depot, Lowes etc. With no superstore to get lost in we wandered up and down the aisles of the shop.  

My brother, sister and I saw this giant tray of dirt. Well for young kids it was big, it was four feet square. We were clueless, what was a tray of dirt doing inside a store? Eventually we found a sign that said, “whoever spots the first spud wins five dollars.” We just started laughing as we thought that was an expression. People in this small town are watching ‘grass grow.’ Not only are they watching, but they could also win a prize for watching grass grow.  

If you are reading this and are wondering why I would recant a story of something so dull? First, I told this story to a friend and told her that I wanted to one day use it in my blog, but more importantly, it is over thirty years ago, and I am still talking about something which seems insignificant but cannot be if I am talking about it. It was an experience that my parents attempted to give our family that failed. It turned into one of the most memorable vacations due to this one story.  

One can look at this and say, well the lesson learned is to make the best of a situation. I would say, yes, that is just part of it. To me the bigger lesson is to spend time with the people you love and enjoy experiences. From the travel hockey with my one daughter, to Miami to an F1 grand prix, to going to Disney dozens of times before my late wife and I had kids were all going to an experience where we could be in a moment together. When you pick a destination, make sure you are there in the moment, pretend it is days before being connected and find that small hardware store with a tray of dirt. The stories that will come about will be better than the meme you just forwarded. After Sheila passed, I found a new saying ‘No good story starts with I was home watching Netflix.’ Making sure I continue to follow it is a challenge. 

Is there scientific proof? Of course there is. In fact, there are a plethora of studies that not only show it but compare it to physical items. Logically my brain had always said an experience is fleeting that a physical good I use often. What happens is that something you have becomes ‘normalized’ it is no longer special. The experience gives you stories and thinking back at them still gives you pleasure. This is something I still stuggle, sometimes I try to combine the two. I bought myself a new pair of Hockey Skates, not to say I have them, but to enjoy playing. It is the fun and experience playing with a good group of guys is what I will tell stories about.  

As I said in the F1 trip story and a few others, take advantage of a good day and enjoy an experience.  

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated and all spam will be removed.

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them.