Measuring Board

Long ago and far away, my father's family had a doorway with a board perfect for measuring the growth of the children. That board was moved from the old house to our house at 523 S. Hackberry. We had a ritual of measuring everyone at Christmas - maybe other occasions.

Once (maybe 1967 or so) the board disappeared. There was a lot of yelling and name calling until the board was found to be sawed in half and employed as bed slats in a new twin bed.

Daddy mounted the old board onto a larger board - giving more room to new measuring. This is a picture of Daddy standing on the kitchen table (green Formica - now at the Brownwood ranch) sawing the board to add to the old measuring board.

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Even later, he added another board since we had used up all the room on the older two boards.

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Here is the board today with Megan and Emma standing near.

The tradition is that Uncle Bobby will hold a Kleenex box over the head of the measuree and mark the increase in height.

Outliers

I've just listened to Outliers by Malcolm Gladewell and I think it is an important book. Hockey and soccer players handicapped by December birthdays - advantage for Bill Gates to have his own computer at age 13 in 1968, culture matters. 10,000 hours of practice to be successful - smartest one or not. Fascinating. Read it.