Good morning and greetings, NBA fans. Yes, the new pro basketball season is upon us, but first congratulations must go out to the San Francisco Giants, who captured an amazing third World Series championship in five years behind pitcher Madison Bumgarner, some timely hitting and great defense. Or in the words of Giants announcer Duane Kuiper, “He hits in hard…he hits in deep…it is…OUTTA HERE.”

So with our national pastime slowly drifting into the rear view mirror, college and pro football move to the forefront of America’s viewing and gambling interest. Football is now our choice of entertainment in America, replacing baseball as the sport du jour. Controlled violence has become very chic these days, as has denying concussion’s side effects and cheerleader’s rights for fair pay.

During my wonder years growing up in New Jersey, we’d go up to the schoolyard and play tackle football. I remember playing with reckless abandon and never getting hurt. These days, the only thing I would attempt to tackle is a crossword puzzle.

So I celebrated my twenty-sixth wedding anniversary last week. I won’t say my wife and I have been through a lot, but there was a major health crisis back in 2009 which was a little dicey, but my wife came through the darkness and back into the light.

Or as the rabbi told me during our wedding reception, “Getting married is easy. Staying married is more difficult. Staying happily married is impossible.”

So we went out to dinner to celebrate the occasion and I burned the roof of my mouth on the crab and artichoke appetizer. But I am happy to report that after fifty two half years of matrimony, our relationship is in the best place it’s even been. Or as comedian Rita Rudner once said, “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy the rest of your life.”

There’s an old African proverb that says a man without a wife is like a vase without flowers. Evangalist James Dobson said “Don’t marry the person you can live with. Marry the individual that you can’t live without.” I prefer the words of Zsa Zsa Gabor, who once tweeted, “A man is incomplete until he is married. Then he is finished.”

I courted my wife for nine years before we got married, but for some reason, I still have the gnawing feeling that I rushed into wedlock. Of course, I’m just kidding. At least that’s what it says in the prenup agreement.

So things are good on the matrimonial front. Just goes to show how two separate DVR’s can bring keep a marriage fresh and exciting.

Hey, it’s easy to knock TV, but it’s a fabulous gift that keeps on giving. Or as actress Lily Tomlin once pointed out, “If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you’re not considered well viewed.” Who am I to argue with that?

So if I were to give any advice for someone looking to get married, I would quote the former NFL running back Paul Hornung, who said, “Never get married in the morning, because you’ll never know who you’ll meet that night.”

On another relationship front, last week I received an email from a high school friend I hadn’t heard from in forty four years. He sent me a short note which read, “This message is to an old friend, from an old friend. Love your writing.” And then he signed his name, which I told him I wouldn’t reveal (Dennis).

Forty four years! We are talking approximately 180,060 days of non-communication. The last time we spoke, I was one year out of Woodstock, Tricky Dick Nixon was president and my future bride was 11 years old, riding her bike through the streets of Lakewood, CA on a banana seat.

Well, those last three words went straight to my heart. Nothing he could have written could have been better. We then spoke on the phone, and it was an amazing fifty five minutes of delightful conversation.

We both had gone dark and had not attended any class reunions, yet he said he had been thinking about me all through the years. I too had wondered, what had happened to my best friend?

We go as far back as first grade, and he was in my life from then on through high school. I could hear the excitement in his voice as I updated him on some of our classmates, as to who was above and below the ground.

I told him I would keep our conversation private and wouldn’t reveal a thing about him, like his status (happily married) his profession (real estate) or his location in an unnamed west coast city (Portland.) As I said, mum’s the word.

It was a glorious reunion. I told him I’d stay in touch. There are still some questions. We’ll see where it goes from here.

It just goes to show, you never know what’s coming around the corner. And that’s why I always wear a safety helmet.

So for today’s photo session, we are going back to the lovely morning of October 15. When I woke up, the sky was dark and completely covered with ribbons of clouds. Then when the sun rose over Steamer Lane, the sight was spectacular. I later took some shots from along West Cliff Drive, that revealed the magnitude of greatness that morning. This was world class all the way.

“Vladimir Putin announced he’s abolishing daylight saving time. He said he doesn’t want to set Russian clocks back. I will say this: He’s done a pretty good job of setting the Russian calendar back — to about 1983. Now that Putin’s gotten rid of daylight savings, it’s just a matter of time before he decides to get rid of daylight altogether.” Today is the day I wait for. It’s National Cat Day. It’s the one day of the year we can ignore the fact that if cats were any bigger, they would kill us all.” – Craig Ferguson

“Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants! Last night the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in Game 7 to win the World Series. Finally, an excuse for the city of San Francisco to have a parade. Kellogg’s has reported a 31 percent drop in profits this quarter after sales of breakfast foods and snacks fell in the U.S. When asked how he’s doing, Tony the Tiger replied, “Not great.” – Seth Meyers “For Halloween, a woman in Vermont is handing out kale to trick-or-treaters. If you’re in Vermont and you want to stop by, look for the house that’s been set on fire.” – Conan O’Brien

“People are taking selfies with bears and then using them as their profile pictures on dating apps. The forest service would like people to stop doing this. I don’t know. I say if people want to take selfies with bears, let them do it. It’s called natural selection. And it’s a win-win, because either you get to post a picture showing everyone how brave you are, or the bear gets to post a picture showing what it had for lunch.” – Jimmy Kimmel

So it’s November as the year continues to fly by. We’ll catch you shutting down the Royals while pulling off perhaps the greatest pitching performance in World Series history. Aloha, mahalo and later, Madison Bumgarner fans.