Dr. Larry Pittman Goddard Blog

A Grandfather's Advice... “Keep your nose clean”, said my Granddad Pittman in one of his rare philosophical conversations. I remember the conversation, in his Ford truck that always smelled dusty like the white gravel road he drove to the ranch. People still tell me today that they could tell it was Vernon Pittman coming down the road because he drove so fast there was always a huge cloud of dust around his truck. “You have intelligence and I’m proud of you, son, for that,” said Granddad—one of the few relatives who would say those words: I am proud of you. “But, no matter how smart you are, son,” he continued, “you have got to keep your nose clean.” He usually was lively and funny, and I loved him with all my heart. I regret not showing more affection to him—he had a dairy, peanut farm, ranch—and when he was either coming to see us or we were at his house—he didn’t shave; it would take too much time away from being with us grandki

Travel Blog—Trip to Israel  We arrived in Tel Aviv this afternoon and are staying on the Mediterrean--wonderful hotel but the guy said to mentally hit 'delete' since hotels throughout the Holy Land are less than any star rating system. The only thing that was exciting about the 20 or so hours in flight and airports....was that on the flight to Madrid, a big fluffy cat got loose in the cabin and was running around.  Its head popped up in between Mom's leg--the least likely candidate for feline understanding and certainly doesn't want cat hair showing on her black 'travel' pants.....  So funny.  The man from India sitting next to her couldn't get a good grip on the creature, so guess who saved the day?  The cat weighed a ton, was completely docile and/or drugged and somehow got out of its carrier when the owner was in the toilet. Tel Aviv is a modern, all white architecturally beautiful seaside coastal town.  We had great fresh seafood and the be