Spring quick — What’s the second word that comes to mind? Spring forward — Yes. We have another hour of daylight after work. There’s time to walk dogs while it’s still light. Daylight Savings Time is one of the best fake-outs of all. We all know we haven’t really gained an hour overnight. But I’ll [...]
When I was in third or fourth grade, just starting to learn about the founding of the United States, I read that the United States is referred to as The Great Melting Pot. My history books described how people from all over the world had come here to make their fortunes or to escape misfortune [...]
My birthday is next month — the day after taxes are due. So far, I’ve never had a birthday that’s caused me concern or thrown me into a depression. I buy into the attitude that one’s birthday is cause for celebration, if for no other reason than the fact that it beats the alternative. If [...]
Sometimes the same old routine gets to be too much. You feel like you’re plodding along in the same footsteps you trod last week and last month and maybe last year. A rut is forming as you walk the same path. The path is familiar and the rut is not altogether unpleasant. But the longer [...]
Lots of things make me happy. Granted, I’m something of a Pollyanna — but I can nearly always find something to be happy about. The first thing every morning, Jackson the Hound Dog wakes me. If it’s later than 4:30 in the morning that really makes me happy. At least he’s gentle about it. He [...]
The greens I grew up on were “cooked to death” by good southern cooks. They were delicious — what could be slow-cooked for hours with a smoked ham hock and not be yummy? Throughout my childhood, I thought slow-simmered was the only way to eat greens. Everybody I knew ate greens that way. When I [...]
My mother began dealing with high blood sugar in her mid-80s, as did her mother. I have been on various pills to lower my numbers, watched my diet (off and on), and exercised (again, off and on) for about 15 years. That does not mean I was in my mid-80s 15 years ago, and am [...]
Someone I know recently described a workplace situation where intimidation and disapproval had the effect of forcing an employee out of a company. When she spoke of the situation, she made the comment, “Hurting people hurt people.” In other words, sometimes people who have bad things going on in their lives tend to take out [...]
