I was in my mother’s living room telling about a short introduction I would give on Saturday to a group of veterans. I suddenly realized I had never written an article about my Navy service. That is a heck of an omission after writing almost 200 articles, many of them about my life. It’s time…
Read moreOh, My Aching Back
For many years I have had back pain which limited my ability to do a lot of physical work without taking pain relievers. Over time the pain got worse, but I could still carry 50-pound bags of chicken feed, which was the measuring stick of my strength and ability to tolerate the pain. One Sunday,…
Read moreGrabbing Sunlight for More Power
Like all of you, I have been using sun power from the day we were born. It has been used by all mankind and all life on Earth throughout history. It warms us, makes plants grow, and allows us to go outdoors without flashlights. It prefers to hide its face part of the day, and…
Read moreMy Dangerous Childhood
By today’s standards, I grew up with multiple possibilities of being maimed, sickened, or dying waiting around every corner. It is a wonder any kid I knew grew into adulthood. Most children in my day had experienced actually having diseases like mumps, measles, chickenpox, impetigo, colds, and earaches and recovered from them well after a…
Read moreWhiskey, Beer, and Wine – My Drinking Problem
Beer! It all started with beer. Specifically, Coors Banquet in cans. In the early 1960s, we opened them with a “church key,” a hand opener that punched a triangular hole on one side of the top edge, then the opposite edge for glug-free drinking or for pouring. Most youngsters took an instant dislike to the…
Read morePolitical Fatigue? – Let’s Talk Biscuits
Let’s take a break from politics and discuss one of my favorite breakfast foods. Many believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don’t know about that, but it is the most enjoyable for me. Setting down to a meal of bread, eggs, and sausage or bacon with a cup of…
Read moreSnakes Get A Bad Rap
I’m one of those rare people who actually like all snakes – every kind, even the poisonous ones. I don’t invade their space, but do observe them. I give a wide berth to wasps, hornets, skunks, and other creatures that oppose my getting up close and personal. In my early teens, I had a pet…
Read more“A Jug of Wine,
…a Loaf of Bread – and Thou.” It’s a line made famous by poet Omar Khayyám in his “Rubaiyat” over nine centuries ago. Bread and wine have not only been consumed but written about since man came forth from the Stone Age. No single food since the advent of agriculture has had more impact than…
Read moreThe Whole Hog
To “go whole hog” is a common expression meaning “to go the entire way” or “to the greatest extent” as far as something particular is concerned. Its origins, however, referred to eating and using the entirety of a slaughtered pig. As my dad used to say, “Use every part but the squeal.” Most people don’t…
Read moreCows – The more they eat, the more they toot!
Many folks up in arms about the human contribution to climate change have long held the opinion that a cow’s farting is a big, if not major, contributor to greenhouse gases. It’s been claimed the carbon footprint of a cow is as bad as an automobile or at least a lawn mower. I suspect there…
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