Royal's Page

By Royal . Hopper III
Peddlers sell things, that’s what they do, travel and sell. It is their pride and Irene comes from a long line of peddlers. When money tight and ends simply were not meeting there was only one answer her peddlers pride would allow.
She boxed up the special edition Hamilton coffee mug she had likely kept for years and proceeded down an East Chicago street populated by shops and stores. She spent part of the day, going door to door, all 80 pounds and eight decades of her, pit… Continue

Spring is here or almost here hurrah for the sunshine

Today it was cold and it rained. Human nature and modern work schedules being what they are we opened all our Christmas presents yesterday and today. As you read this we have no more presents to open and the dogs are very happy. It turns out they got the most Christmas presents by far

It's funny how we can ignore certain problems until it is almost to late to do anything about it.. This is a fact that my now semi famous black Lab Spazz discovered the hard way recently as he learned to deal with the arrival of a new puppy in our house.
Red, the puppy is a female who most resembles a canine version of the energizer bunny with an attention deficit disorder or maybe Brittainy Spears on speed. Even her eyes are in constant motion and she even wags her tail in short hyperactive bur… Continue

Like it or not our childhood and relationship with our parents and the times we grew up in shape us in ways we can never escape. Like the urge to wear polyester leisure suits and bad toupees that I inherited from my Dad. And I’m not even bald yet.
This particular epiphany came upon me when I rediscovered a 34-year-old family photo portrait. The proudly displayed all seven members of the Hopper clan, all clad in the famed fashions of the day smiling from ear to ear in the disco, bell bottomed, le… Continue