I DECIDED TO CHECK  out the new Platte River Park which is under construction just outside Honor off U.S. 31.  ...

ON MY MORNING WALKS in August, I usually pass by a massive trumpet vine shrub ( Campsis radicans ) that has taken over a driveway fence...

I HAVE FOND MEMORIES of the Franklin Cider Mill, located just north of Fourteen Mile Road in the NW suburbs of Detroit....

IT WAS NICE HAVING MY SONS and their families visit Leelanau County for a week this month where they rented a gorgeous home on Good...

I START MY DAY with a cup of coffee and a light breakfast. This wasn’t my routine until I got older. In the heyday of my business life, I...

I INCINERATED A TACO SHELL this week in my toaster oven. I was warming it up to fill it with taco meat, veggies, and shredded Mexican...

PAUL COEHLO THE FAMOUS AUTHOR of the 1988 book, Alchemist, more recently twittered this advice, “Offering a smile is the way to solve...

SOAKING RAINS WERE A WELCOME SIGHT this week; every plant benefited from their arrival, as did I. My app on my phone registered over 2...

I OFTEN SIT ON MY PORCH for half-hour tanning sessions. The porch faces due west, and the early afternoon offers the best chance to catch...

BALSAMIC VINEGAR HAS BECOME an all-important condiment in my culinary life. I’m trying to remember when I first had it. It might have...

RED POPPIES ARE IN FULL DISPLAY in early June on my morning walks. They make me feel reverent and thankful. It took a web search to learn...

IT'S EARLY JUNE. Fresh asparagus is coming to an end as we move forward with gorgeous spring weather. I’m finally confident that the...

I WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE SOUTH as a young teen during spring vacations with my dad. Our trips were mostly centered around golf and...

THIS WEEK I HAD THE PLEASURE of enjoying two recipes that utilized fresh asparagus harvested from the Norconk family farm off M-22 south...

I CHOSE TWO BOOKS from my library shelves this past week and were they ever gems. Jackdaws by Ken Follett and Calico Joe by John Grisham....

CAROL, MY THIRD WIFE, always professed in metaphor that our lives were made up of chapters, and she further believed that these chapters...

THE DEATH OF TWO OF MY BEST friends this past month challenged me as a humorist and thoughtful friend. Family and friends, including me,...

MY SENSE OF HUMOR has saved me many times during life’s trials. Sadness is also in the equation, but its role is to bolster happiness....

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Thomas Fuller (cited) in 1732. THE MONTH OF MARCH is half over as we come to...

SHE FINALLY LOOKED UP AT ME and I remembered thinking that she had a beautiful, sweet face. I would soon learn that [she] had what I’d...