One of the biggest treats when I was a kid was popcorn. Back in those days, there were no microwaves. Hence, no microwave popcorn. No. Mom made it on the stove in a heavy pan. I used to love the entire magical process. We’d pour in the oil, add a healthy layer of kernels, close

Mole butts.  Or should I say “molasses”?Either way, it is a sticky subject. It sounds like something from a Road Runner cartoon. But it is so true. It happened on January 15, 1919, in the great city of Boston. It was then and there that they experienced one of the strangest disasters in American history.

I get up pretty darn early every morning. I do this without an alarm. I just wake up, ready to go most days, between 2:30 am and 3:00 am. The mornings are when I do a lot of my writing. But tons of people use alarm clocks. They need them. Otherwise, they’d sleep right through

Buh-Buh-Buh-Buuuummmmm. Beethoven. We’d know those four notes anywhere.Even if you don’t love music. Even if you don’t love coffee. Yes. You heard me write. And right. Beethoven. Music. Coffee. It appears he was a bit of a coffee snob. Here’s the thing about him. That great composer, whose full name was Ludwig van Beethoven, was

Some days, I feel a little bit old.Like today. Old. But then I think about trees. They can be really old, and that will put things in perspective for anyone. The Great Basin bristlecone pines are the oldest known individual trees on Earth. Mature trees of that species are often 1,000–2,000 years old. But some

A few minutes ago, I was searching for something to watch.  I flipped through the channels on my TV with the remote control. It made me wonder. Who? What? Where? When? The remote control. It happened on September 25. In 1906. And it happened on the waterfront in Bilbao, Spain. A crowd gathered to watch

Not every day has to be remarkable. Some days merely need to be filled with content. Today, I am content. And I am so very thankful for that.  “”””””” “Be content with what you have. Rejoice in the way things are.”— Lao Tzu “”””””” “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking

Trees are more than just trees. Take, for example, a single mature oak tree. If you take a close look, you will find that it is a million different things. Throughout its lifetime, one oak can do a whole heck of a lot. It supports hundreds of different species of insects, birds, mammals, fungi, lichens,