MY DAD RAISED DAHLIAS  in the backyard of his home in Bloomfield Village, Michigan. It became a fun hobby for him as he moved through his...

MY REFLECTIONS TODAY  are about the Detroit Tigers. Their six-week rally at the end of the 2024 season, along with their appearance in...

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND HAS ARRIVED.  I made my mom’s potato salad recipe and bought a package of Koegel hot dogs (thank you, Flint!). I’ll...

LOUIS L’AMOUR WRITES ABOUT BOXING - a subject featured throughout his over one hundred novels. If the stories are not about fighters in...

THIS PAST YEAR , I have been reintroduced to cottage cheese and not just virtually through social media. I use it in many recipes,...

MY WRITING TUTORIALS claim that one of the best ways to improve one’s writing is to immerse oneself in reading all types and styles of...

A CATCHY FEW LINES CAME TO ME  in a Grisham book I was reading this past winter that cracked me up. The paragraph described the...

ALL YOU NEED IN LIFE  is baking soda and white vinegar. That thought came to me after I was recently confined to my loft for several...

I SIGNED UP FOR A FACEBOOK account fifteen years ago. I guess I was curious about its popularity and thought I should give it a try. I...

Tigger Alone I once had a cat who sat on my lap.   He watched the world letting it gently pass.   He up and died which made me sad.   I...

NICE SURPRISES FOUND IN MY BACKYARD  are always welcomed, especially in the dead of winter. My trip up M-22 to Glen Arbor last week...

MY CULINARY INTERESTS HAVE CERTAINLY changed over my lifetime .  Looking back at the diverse foods I encountered certainly brought me...

THIS WINTER BROUGHT  old-fashioned snowy conditions to my environs, which I certainly appreciated. It also sparked fond memories from my...

CABBAGE IS A SURPRISING discovery for me; its versatility is evident in the recipes I will try this winter. The above photo is a variety...

I ORDERED AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR  as a gift to me on Christmas. It just arrived and I’ve unpacked it. I want to learn twelve classic songs...

I STARTED WRITING regularly during a difficult period in my life. It started in earnest a dozen years ago during a divorce and I read...

ONE OF MY FAVORITE APPLES  has been   Honeycrisp. Recently it has come under fire for its short shelf life. Its taste can deliver a mediocre experience, characterized by its mushiness. This attribute may be “a kiss of death” for the once-popular variety in the competitive fresh apple market. Then again look at the run the Red Delicious has had - a name that is a contradiction in terms if there ever was one. Last year I wrote about this historically popular red apple and its

A WEEK INTO REALLY SNOWY WEATHER  has me making Jenn Segal’s Turkey Chili this weekend. It is so tasty. It has been the standard in my...

I HAVE BEEN STUDYING THE GAME OF BRIDGE for a week using tutorials and videos from the Web. It has been 55 years since I last played the...

WE WOKE TO THREE INCHES  of snow Friday morning in greater Traverse City. Reports of 25 inches inland around Gaylord were prevalent in...