Porky Pig Looney Tunes I NEVER THOUGHT I’D MAKE IT past my seventy-fifth birthday. Here I am, heading to my seventy-seventh birthday in a little over a week. How nice is that! I have miraculously outlived chronologically my grandparents, who passed away in their sixties and early seventies when I was a young lad. Both my parents made it to their mid-80s, but they certainly took better care of themselves than I have. Even with a few complications this past year, which resulted

I NEVER ATE MUCH CABBAGE until recently. I can honestly state that I now use both red and green cabbage frequently in some of my favorite new dishes. My interest in “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” sparked my curiosity about trying cabbage in my diet as I began my journey toward healthier foods. Still, the revelation is how tasty it is in the recipes I have made using it. Casseroles, soups, and salads all benefit from its inclusion. That is a nice surprise. I’m now a total convert

I WROTE ABOUT PLANTS AND FLOWERS in my first book and acknowledged their contribution to my lifelong enjoyment of their rather impressive life cycles. As I have learned through observation, the predictable sequence of flowering deepens my awe of what plants bring to their space on planet Earth. The above photo is a close-up of the Korean Spice Viburnum that grows outside my front porch in Beulah. I planted it as a small shrub over fifteen years ago, mostly because of fond mem

SPRING ASPARAGUS IS SO WELCOMED. They are culinary stars and signify the beginning of our agricultural offerings in northern Michigan, especially appreciated after a lengthy winter and equally long spring. They are the region’s first crop, sprouting from our sandy loam soil. They are also in a virtual tie on the calendar with foraged morels found in our old orchards and woods. How fun. All this happens right in our backyard. The pleasure I experience savoring asparagus’s spec

An Early Attempt NEW RECIPES WITH FEWER INGREDIENTS have entered my culinary life. Cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and Stevia have become the star ingredients in several desserts I’ve been working on. Initial recipes came my way through influencers in social media posts that pop up quite regularly on my e-devices. I’m fascinated because they are easy to make and have fewer calories than traditional desserts. Complexity is not welcome in my kitchen. I’m even trying a few microw

CREEPING MYRTLE IS A GROUND COVER that has always appealed to me. In early May, small light purple-blue flowers suddenly appear on thin stems between the waxy green leaves. Each flower has five petals that seem to smile up at you, announcing that spring has finally ​arrived. It is the leaves' evergreen nature and spreading growth habit that make them desirable in the right garden spot. In my youth, wooded neighborhood lots that were soon to be transformed into two-story house

MY PHOTO IS A NICE I-PHONE SHOT of two intriguing subjects that both brought back significant memories in my life. Neuman, the cat, is my friend Steve’s newest rescue, and the blooming forsythia branches I cut last week from my shrub at the side of my yard. The bright yellow flowers are spaced evenly along the branches and are certainly a sight to behold, especially after the long, snowy winter we experienced this year. It brought back memories of my mother clipping branches

I’M TAKING A LOOK AT a new endeavor in my writing, and this essay helps in summarizing the framework for this effort. I will be examining the use and importance of proverbs and idioms in our everyday language, and may expand this preview into my next book. Hang with me. We’ll get there. At this point, the essay is still a whirlwind of fragmented thoughts. I’m confident these “morning pages” will help me uncover the vast world of proverbs and idioms and show how useful and fun

SUCH A PLEASANT SURPRISE came my way this past Saturday. I was driving through Leelanau County with Nancy, enjoying the beautiful landscape on a sunny afternoon. The sun was working hard at melting the leftover snow, but there were still piles of it, reminding us of winter’s lengthy grip in northern Michigan. Nancy and I, who enjoy our wandering ways, decided to stop in at the Cedar Tavern for a bite and a beer. It had been years since my last visit, and I was surprised at a

THE PHOTO ABOVE shows a plastic jar of honey I purchased at Tom’s Market this week. Little did I know it would feature a very creative silicone valve that delivers a thin stream of golden sweet honey without creating a mess. If you use honey, you know those drips can end up just about anywhere. It has been an issue I've faced for years. My spouts and dippers usually drip, creating a mess that leaves sticky fingers and hands; the effects often persist for some period of time.

DURING MY THREE-WEEK STAY in two hospitals this winter, I was greeted by many attending physicians who visited my room to check on me. One doctor even encouraged me to join a sleep apnea assessment. At first, I thought she had the wrong patient as I had a failing mitral valve with a few other glitches in the mix, but my name and birth date were confirmed, so she continued with her pitch. In business, we call this cross-selling. It just hit me that it was perhaps ill-timed, b

I STARTED MY MORNING thinking I would make a mini loaf of artisan bread and 4 sesame hamburger buns from my dough that was proofing overnight. Never getting locked into a direction is one of my cardinal rules in my kitchen. This thinking also feeds my ADD and fuels my curiosity. My shift really began when Nancy brought me half a large bag of frozen blueberries after making her morning fruit smoothies. These were wild blueberries, my absolute favorite. These smaller gems have

AN OLD-FASHIONED WINTER has finally returned to Michigan. During most nights in February, temperatures have been flirting with 0 degrees. It is very cold out, just like the good old days, with winds topping it all off. The sure indicator is that East and West Bay, coming into (out of) Traverse City, have almost frozen solid; the floating ice appears to be covered with a blanket of pure white snow, creating the appearance of a desert oasis. I hope you’re aware that we have bee

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY has arrived. I’m happy to have this day come, not because I’m a fan of professional football, but because I’m alive and healing nicely after a few heart procedures that arose unexpectedly in January. I guess the best way to explain my situation is that a new pig valve replaced my worn-out mitral valve. And, while they were doing this, they elected to shave some excess thickness that had developed in my septum. Finally, they did a few tweaks to calm my atrial

AS MOST ARE AWARE , I committed to writing short essays about favorite places along our iconic M-22 highway in northwestern Michigan. The majority of the 116 miles of the roadway is in Leelanau and Benzie Counties, with the beginning and ending segments in Manistee and Grand Traverse Counties. There is so much to see and experience along this infamous highway that connects four beautiful counties, each offering a unique blend of adventure and lifestyle opportunities. I had a

AFTER EXPERIENCING TWO DISAPPOINTING book selections from my library over the holidays, I decided to revisit my 2013 memoir, From the Hip & Heart. I still had an early copy resting on top of my dresser. https://goo.gl/Uecvh6 I've become a dedicated reader of physical books, and I really enjoy this habit. It helps bring balance to my reliance on electronic devices. It's been twelve years since I released my collection of essays. I wanted to use my experienced persp

MY DINNER ENTRÉE FOR CHRISTMAS was a New England-style turkey pot pie. It came at the suggestion of my New Hampshire sister, who orders her pot pies from a specialty store on Cape Cod. She knew I preferred making my own, which prompted her to recommend a recipe from Yankee Magazine. I decided to buy a puff pastry to top off the homemade ingredients, reasoning that my kitchen was busy enough with several other recipes in progress. As you can see from the above photo, the puff

EMILY DICKINSON, THE FAMOUSLY RECLUSIVE poet from the mid-nineteenth century, expressed to associates that to experience peace in life, we must seek out simple pleasures and be grateful for the small joys we might easily take for granted. With these thoughts spinning in my head this Christmas week, I reflect on the importance of being grateful each day. I actively generate thoughts on being joyful, which I often express with whispers and little chuckles during my daily routi

I AM IN THE MOOD to make a Christmas cookie I haven’t had in years. My search unearthed many recipes, and I picked the easiest one. It's essentially a shortbread-style recipe rolled by hand into 1-inch balls and coated with powdered sugar. The most common name for them is Christmas Almond Snowballs, but there are many variations depending on your ancestors' country of origin or the nuts you use. I remember having these on Christmas Eve from our dessert tray of cookies at De

IT OCCURRED TO ME as I was waking from my nighttime slumber that I am basically a happy person. A sense of wonder connects me with most things around me. My interests are driven by curiosity with a desire to learn new things. It certainly helps in my well-being. This insight came to me after recently reading a couple of American classics that I had checked out of my library. I also remembered some words I wrote about my sons in my memoirs, which were recalled during these re