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I still pine for pinecones

Preparing for this weekend’s garage sale, I came across a canvas bag I hadn’t seen in years. It was filled with pinecones. Giant Sequoia pinecones. Some of these babies are almost a foot long, and my memory of first seeing them goes back to 1949. 1949? Yes, I was alive then – and out of diapers. In fact, I was out of third grade. But the huge pinecones that my mother brought home from California fascinated me for their pure size. I studied redwood trees and the giant Sequoias, and I knew I had to see them for myself someday. My mother’s first trip to California in 1944 ...

General welfare having big impact on national debt

Over the past 10 months we have been treated to entertaining commentary from the Woke Mob. They are apoplectic because the source of all their virtue signaling — the bottomless pit of their government programs — has been threatened by the “fascist terror” in the White House. Unable to present a coherent argument against the Administration’s anti-waste policies, the Woke Mob resorts to the same old saw – that “Trump has no compassion.” This begs the question: Compassion for whom? Apparently the Woke Mob measures compassion by how hard they squeeze taxpayers and ...

Rounding Third: The truth of the quiet Golden Years

I always envisioned my retirement as the Golden Years. I somehow pictured days of sleeping in, reading after lunch, and playing tennis or an occasional bridge game. Oh – and not having too many obligations. I wanted to stop jumping through other people’s hoops. Fuggedaboudit. Besides, my tennis game left with the purchase of my new knees. And reading for pleasure during daytime hours still clobbers me with guilt. Maybe I’ll stick around long enough to outlive that. Of course, I never imagined having a computer and the possibility of falling down the internet rabbit hole each ...

As rich get wealthier, seniors wait for help

It’s been over two months since my wife and I tried to switch from our local pharmacy to go back on line to obtain necessary replacements for her Dex Com “arm sensor,” a necessary tab that clings onto her arm for 10 days when it needs to be replaced. The Dex Com device eliminates finger pricking to measure blood glucose which denotes if insulin is needed and if so how much. It’s a wonderful device. Upon making the switch to the local pharmacy, we learned we would receive only a month’s supply whereas on line we had obtained a three months supply. We switched back on ...

Rounding Third: Selling memories in the driveway

It’s time for a garage sale. I haven’t tackled this particular craziness in more than ten years, but it is time. In the years since, Dear Richard and I have donated saleable goodies to a handful of local charities as well as annual fundraising sales. We’ve dragged out furniture, rugs, and I even persuaded Richard to donate many of his unused tools. We parted with three air conditioners, lamps, and more of my late mother’s earrings than a jewelry store could stock at one time. Even my handblown wedding Austrian crystal now graces someone else’s dining table. But it was okay ...

U.S. shambles need fix

It’s hard to ascertain the mentality of the far left. Since 2016 the left’s vocabulary has contained words like Nazi, fascist, racist, all kinds of phobias, Hitler, garbage, deplorable, and more. When a sitting governor and former vice presidential candidate in 2024 recently made a toxic remark saying “maybe we’ll hear some good news” referring to President Donald Trump’s supposedly ill health, the listener has come to believe that the left has lost its ability to care about anyone who differs in ideologies or ideals. The hatred for this country and its founding ...