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Many Disagree With Global Warming Consensus

There has been a general tendency toward melting glaciers over the last few decades, presumably an unprecedented event in the history of the world, and presumably inextricably linked to human industrial activity of the last few centuries. As some of those glaciers melt, however, they are giving clues to historical precedents for warmer temperatures in the past, long before human industrialization or even rapid population growth. Otzi the iceman, a famous find of human remains dated from 3,300 BC, was so well preserved that scientists were able to determine what his last meal was, and ...

Things Are Getting Better In Chautauqua

A childhood friend owns a gift shop and up until last week she has been opening her door for limited hours only. My heart breaks for her whenever I drive by. All the pretty things in the windows look like orphans in a dark house. We’re not buying candles and gifts for friends. We’re having pancake mix and face masks delivered by Amazon. But things are getting better out there in the land of Chautauqua. There are boats on the water and chicken wings flying out the door and there are families catching minnows in the creeks and restaurants putting their specials to chalkboard for ...

Old Maids And Popcorn, A Lifelong Lasting Love Affair

Desperate to flee the encroaching violence of the Bay Area (two murders at local businesses we regularly frequented within a couple blocks of home: our liquor store and a good steak restaurant that had pancakes for the kids), we packed up and moved to my hometown of Warren. My father, a long-time widower, was gracious to open his home to my family but five, including three active youngsters two and up, had to wear after not too much time. We eagerly snatched the first house for sale that met our requirements: basically empty, large enough and available. I know it was priced in the ...

Picking Those Bright Red Orbs, The Joys Of Strawberry Season

Picking strawberries has long been a favorite pastime of mine. My love of berries began as a young child. I lived with my grandparents. They did not often pick the berries, but we often had them to eat. Grandma would cut them up and add sugar. We usually made biscuits for our shortcakes. Every once in while grandma would purchase those little spongy cakes. I liked the biscuits the best. My aunt and uncle grew a small patch of berries. When I visited my cousins, we were the pickers. We would go out into the patch and pick a couple of quarts then clean them and sugar them to have for ...

Take A Tip From Gilligan

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship.” This is the opening from the Sept. 26, 1964 to April 17, 1967, run of the television sitcom, “Gilligan’s Island. “ The storyline of the comedy, was about five people on a chartered boat, taking a three-hour tour on the Pacific Ocean, and being shipwrecked on a distant, uninhabited island, far from the Hawaiian Islands, along with the Captain and crew mate of the S.S. Minnow. Funny thing about this comedy is that these seven castaways ...

‘I Don’t Really Want To Be Here…’

Meet Maxwell. Maxwell was referred for therapy by his PCP. Welcome, Sir. I welcomed a handsome casually dressed gentleman who I guessed to be near retirement age. His greying hair and short cropped beard were contrasted by an otherwise sagging countenance. His gait was slow and deliberate as he eased into a chair. He refused a bottle of water. Are you all right, Sir? He looked drained. He looked up at me. “I don’t really want to be here, no offense. I’m here because my boss insisted.” Who is your boss and what do you understand to be your boss’ reason for this referral? ...