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Shovels Or Sun, Spring Fails Us Every Year

I checked. In March, spring arrived on time. The sun crossed the equator around March 20, heralding the arrival of the new season. That was more than a month ago, but it’s like this every year: life becomes a giant ketchup commercial, as we sit in anticipation of spring actually stepping up to the plate. It is the most rebellious of seasons, the frustrating toddler who won’t be strapped into his car seat, for months. I remember volunteering for a Girl Scout camping trip for my daughter’s troop. They set the date for June 15, and I spent the night in a tent in six layers ...

Going To The Cellar For Food, A Joy Of Homemade Preserves

Someone recently shared a picture of canned goods in her basement. I do not think it was a picture that they took, just one they found. Foods preserved in jars really make a pretty picture. I often went downstairs and just looked at all of the food I had preserved. We never had much money. Milk checks came twice a month with the first check being the larger one since it was an advance on what would follow. During the summer months especially the second check was small so I learned not to rely on it. I went to the grocery store with my little red checker — some of you will remember ...

Enjoying L’esprit De L’escalier And Other Fun With Words

Atrabilious, immiscible, susurrus, tergiversate, trompe l’oeil — I have a spiral notebook that probably dates back a decade or more of words I hadn’t known so looked up meanings and added them to the list. Terricolous, educe, missish, tergiversate, the list goes on and on. And I’ve forgotten almost all (including all those listed here). They are real words — most not acknowledged by my spellcheck (if that helps). There are others though that I do use and appreciate. I do have a word and then an expression I’d like to see used more commonly. First is “petrichor” which ...

Government Goes Too Far

I’m “social distancing.” I stay away from people. I do it voluntarily. There’s a big difference between voluntary — and force. Government is force. The media want more of that. “Ten states have no stay-at-home orders!” complains Don Lemon On CNN. “Some governors are still refusing to take action!” Fox News’ host Steve Hilton agreed. “Shut things down! Everywhere. That includes Utah, Wyoming...” But wait a second. People in Utah and Wyoming already socially distanced just by living there. Why must Utah and Wyoming have the same stay-at-home rules as New ...

Socialist Rent Restructuring Is Not The Answer

Liberals never let a crisis go to waste, and sadly for America’s landlords and real estate developers, the current pandemic is no exception. Far-left lawmakers including members of “The Squad,” Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., are exploiting the crisis to advance their social justice warrior agenda at the expense of property owners. They seek to punish landlords by forcing them to provide free rent for all tenants impacted by the coronavirus. Don’t let them. For if Omar’s bill, introduced last ...

Coming Home From Florida: An Eerie, Antsy Journey

Are people elsewhere in America hunkered down during the coronavirus pandemic? Mostly. Along our stretch of Interstate 80 last week, there were relatively few cars and pickup trucks. Elsewhere along our 1,200-mile return trip from Florida, the traffic was similar ... mostly. The shelter-in-place message was bluntly conveyed on South Carolina’s large black-screen programmable billboards dotting Interstate 83: GO HOME. STAY HOME. Succinct. Carolinians north and south seemed to be cooperating. Truck traffic along most of the route was near normal, but non-commercial ...