“Just try to be nice to people,” my grandmother always said. “You can’t change who they are or why they are. All you can do is try to be nice to people.” My grandmother was a spiritual woman who believed in the ways of Jesus and knew how to get rid of warts by rubbing them with a piece of bacon under a full moon and then having a third party hide the bacon under a rock.
Two Different Rights Clash Last month the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving a clash between two different rights.
Good Problems A story is told about a golfer who was about to hit his first tee shot of the day. He swung hard, but completely missed the ball.
For your eyesight and your patience, that neither runs out in this lifetime, even though you have to correct the word hopefully used at the opening of a sentence the for one-thousandth time, but who’s bitter? For your meticulous care, that it not turn into mania, and leave you mumbling and gibbering as you walk along the street correcting the names on people’s mailboxes and correcting the typos in the newspaper in the office break room and going over old love letters from your wife and making suggested changes in red ink in the margins and then offering them to her for possible updating. For attentiveness to clarity that does not entail wholesale slashing and cutting of entire sections and passages of manuscripts because they do not rise to the level of Robert Louis Stevenson’s prose, because who could? For a bemused amusement rather than apoplectic fury when writers do not use the serial comma, or refer to their own experience as ostensible proof and evidence for a thesis, or write nothing but self-absorbed muck, or fawning essays about their satanic cats, or endless lunatic screeds proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus was Australian.
An article titled “’A Sense of the North Shore; exhibit coming to Tettegouche” ran in last week’s December 31 issue of the Lake County Press. Unfortunately, the artist Annie Young, has contacted the paper to state that her presentation scheduled for January 6, and her exhibit have been canceled.
just like to urge everyone, especially widows/retirees to consider looking into energy assistance through AEOA. I believe that the energy assistance program is very underutilized by widows/retirees.
The most successful New Years Resolution I ever had came straight from a friend. “Floss!,” she told me,“I did it!” I was inspired, and had the same resolution. That was over 20 years ago, and I still floss every day, so I think I’ve got it down. Ten years ago I started eating cooked rice and lentils, stir-fried with greens and topped with a fried egg, for breakfast. Eventually my husband Mark joined me, much to my delight. I knew it was an irresistible breakfast. Over the years we embellish it with personal touches, sauerkraut and almonds for me, soy sauce and toast for Mark, but as long as someone ensures there is a pot of cooked grains in the fridge the night before, breakfast is five minutes away every morning, no thinking or creativity required. On our boat trips, we always offer it up as breakfast along with more traditional options. Generally people begin by eating granola, or eggs, or oatmeal, but I can see them sniffing and watching us eat with curious, sometimes envious eyes. Usually by the end of the trip, including our teen trips, somewhere between 50-100% of participants are eating the same breakfast we are, though they add everything from raisins and peanut butter to yogurt and hot sauce. I’ve learned to assume they will all convert and make sure I have plenty aboard.
No, my version of the snow dance didn’t bring the recent, somewhat belligerent, snows. I will take blame when it's my fault but this time it wasn't me. I haven't done the snow dance since early last year. Still, it is an effective tool when necessary. After an early December ski on the Erkki Harju trail in Two Harbors I came across footprints in the 6-8 inch snowpack. I always wonder why someone would prefer to walk in snow that mimics clomping along in a pair of Frankenstein boots. Especially when there's a plowed citywide walking trail just across the street.
Veterans Identification and Preparation As we complete another trip around that fiery ball at the center of our galaxy, some will proclaim resolutions for the upcoming year. While I do enjoy a good procrastination, I believe in getting it done when the need arises rather than the changing of the calendar.