Lyric of the day: "Beautiful Boy"

Players and coaches aren't the only ones who "fall off a cliff" at the end of an NFL season. So do newspaper beat writers. You go from a rigid, game- and practice-driven schedule, regular deadlines and advance stories, to more of an enterprise and spot news mode.

The loss of the tight schedule can be disarming and unsettling. You kind of wake up the next morning and have some time to yourself. You realize another six-seven months has passed in the blink of an eye.

I'm better -- still not good enough, though -- at balancing the major elements in my life these days, even during the season. Age and experience can be gifts, if you let them.

I am struck this morning, as I sit here and look out my window at the wet street and tidy lawns on my College Hill street, by the upcoming birthdays later this month of my sons. Pete will be 17 and Matthew 15.

Time passes quickly. One minute, you're pulling two mop-headed little boys in red wagon over to the schoolyard playground to push them on swings and hit stones with a Whiffle Ball bat.

Then you hand them the keys to your car. You watch football games together. They remind you of the way you used to get mad and of the stupid things that came out of your mouth. You become the butt of their good-natured jokes. We laugh a lot, often at me. You try to help them avoid the mistakes you made. You parent them within parameters and guidelines, not on a tightrope. You try to give them room to learn from their errors, all the while buffering the walls they might hit. You realize that some days the best you can do is feed them and give them a safe, clean place to sleep.

The transition is as old as time. What I am experiencing is nothing new, though new to me. You ask your late parents to send down guidance; they brought up four boys and three girls. You pray not to be the weak link in a chain of generations that did this job well. You tell your sons that you, at age 44, are still learning and know now how much you don't know.

I enjoy the young men that Pete and Matthew have become. And I'm fortunate and blessed by God that they still reach out to me in their own ways and on their own schedule. A friend with two sons in their 20s has reminded me to soak in as much as I can these days; it all changes when they go to college.

I, too, am reminded of a John Lennon lyric -- there's always a lyric, right? -- that eloquently touches on this passage of time and growth of boy to man. It's from his 1980 masterpiece "Double Fantasy" record.

"Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

"Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While you're busy making other plans."