Opinion & Columns

"I’ve known enough mothers to know they’re not all good, no matter what Hallmark says. I took my mother’s virtues for granted in the early years, though as time passed, I realized she was a keeper."

A collar is the canine equivalent of the wedding ring. Once a collar is purchased for a dog, there is no going back.

I was reading a home-improvement magazine recently and saw an advertisement for a residential generator. It was being touted as the next must-have appliance, something no respectable household should be without. The ad warned of the perils awaiting the ungenerated—spoiled food, flooded basements, gloom of night, frostbite, heat stroke, starvation, thirst, severed communications, severed limbs, all manner of hazards. The advertisement was sponsored by the local electric company, causing me to wonder if the executives knew something I didn’t about the reliability of our power supply. It felt a bit like Wall Street peddling municipal bonds in anticipation of a stock crash.

We all had time to fill, so why not be generous and kind? There were no pressures to impress or lifelong wounds to heal.

As I write this, my wife and I are expecting our first grandchild, Madeline. The level of excitement, as you can imagine, is high.

Our current house is no mansion, but it’s more than we need.

When I read about the opioid crisis, I wonder why my plight goes unreported.

I do not like confrontation and believe men’s brains are better wired for war than women’s. However, I am as guilty as the next guy of perpetrating bad karma.

Up next on my list will be that succulent-looking Late Harvest Kitchen pork chop. I’m counting on it putting “that orange chicken” to shame.

Add in the din of people clacking away on computer keyboards and chatting on their cell phones, and one starts to see why libraries are as noisy as a 5-year-old’s birthday party.