COOKBOOKS ARE BACK IN VOGUE. At least they are in my life. After years of using the magic of Google to find recipes on my laptop, I have...

SNOW IS ARRIVING LATER TODAY in such a gentle way. It is late November and a large weather pattern is making its way slowly into the...

WILBUR SAMPSON THOMAS DIED OVER 100 YEARS AGO. He met his maker in a spectacular fire that roared through the Royal Frontenac Hotel in...

I’VE BEEN BOMBARDED BY RECIPES for Thanksgiving coming from many directions in my universe. With the holiday in sight, households are...

LASSIE AND RIN-TIN-TIN were famous stars from my childhood. Of all the characters that TV sponsored in the 1950s my strongest memory is...

MAKING BREAD REQUIRES SOME SERIOUS PATIENCE - a personality trait I apparently missed out on. As you may recall, automatic bread-makers...

I HAVE WRITER’S BLOCK and need to complete this new essay to pull me out of this most uncomfortable situation. Writing for me has been an...

TWO CUPS OF COFFEE are what I need to start my day. It has been this way for nearly fifty years. This all started in graduate school...

I’VE DECIDED TO BUY SOME SPRING BULBS and plant them in my garden off my porch here in mid-October. I will likely forget that I performed...

IN READING ABOUT THE HISTORY of our region it has been interesting to learn about the start of the logging industry that became so...

OCTOBER IS THE START OF SOUP MAKING MONTH for me. I begin by making chicken stock as it is the base for many of my fall soups. I...

SUNSETS AND GORGEOUS FALL COLORS are appearing in photos quite regularly on Facebook. I enjoy viewing them, always wondering if they are...

MY EXCITEMENT IS MOUNTING knowing my youngest son David and his family will soon arrive for a four-day late summer retreat in my neck of...

THE BREEDS OF DOGS I'VE OBSERVED over the years seem to come in an ever-changing array of shapes and sizes. As a youngster, my suburban...

I JUST COMPLETED SELECTING PHOTOS for my website to feature the arrival of autumn. It is early September and those 40-degree nights have...

THE CITIZENS IN OUR COUNTRY SEEM very unsettled this summer. As a humorist, I try to find threads in a situation that can make me smile...

IT SEEMS THAT THIS COVID-19 has me grumpier than normal. I am not sure that my friends are familiar with this newer state, because I have...

I’M LAUGHING AT MY SHOES that are piled in a heap on my living room floor. As I take inventory, I realize they are all Skechers. Four...

I REMEMBER MAKING A BUG COLLECTION in biology class during my Junior year. It was a requirement that I absolutely enjoyed, and that fact...

I BOUGHT A PLASTIC SIX-PACK of mixed Zinnias (Z. elegans) in May at one of our garden centers that only opens for six weeks in the...