My daughter’s birthday is Sept. 21. We kiddingly used to call her the “last rose of summer.” “Autumnal equinox” just doesn’t have the same ring. My garden’s last summer roses, along with the zinnias, and verbenas, are trying to hang on. But the pumpkin I bought for the front ...

Does the name Mercator mean anything to you? It should if you are between the ages of 60 - 90. They were found in all classrooms of that era – third or fourth grade through high school. They are the selection of maps that every classroom had. The teacher had an array of maps with the ...

Large families always made me jealous. I felt that I was on the outside, looking in. I was a happy only child, but life was quiet. Those laughing clusters of brothers and sisters looked like so much fun. Warm and cozy. Just recently I chatted with two friends who grew up in large families. At ...

As I look out my kitchen window, I cannot help but see that Autumn is approaching. At first, I saw a patch of color in the Pin Oak. Now there are several patches of colorful leaves. Each day as I eat lunch I check my tree. It is too dark in the morning as I eat breakfast. It is strange but that ...

The veterinarian said something to Finian that I personally never heard in a doctor’s office: “You could stand to gain a little weight.” He removed our cat from the scale, announcing that he had lost ten ounces. That probably doesn’t seem like much, but it was 5% of his body weight. ...

By DENNIS A. JOHNSON The world’s elite athletes recently finished competition at the Olympic games in Paris. They came from all over the globe, attempting to go home with a gold, silver, or bronze medal or at the very least a personal best performance. Watching the games one might ask, ...