2020

  I read the letter for the first time today. In all these years. I knew the story, saw the movie, but I never read the actual letter. It was written, then mailed to the New York Sun daily newspaper. They printed the reply, on this date, September 21, in the year 1897. First, I […]

  My people most likely got here by the power of steam. I mean my early ancestors, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their way to America. All of my people, and I mean ALL, from both my mother and father’s side, hailed from Germany. According to DNA at Ancestry, 97% of me comes from Northwestern

  You wouldn’t think that September the 19th would be so much. But it is. It comes packing with a punch, that nine-one-nine. First and foremost, it is historically epic for me, in the most personal way. It is Batman’s birthday. I know you probably thought I was going to talk about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

  A few “anniversaries” have happened this week, which have reminded me about a highly important time in American history. Our early days. For one, there was Aaron Burr. He died on September 14, 1836. At the age of 80. He came very close to being the third president of the United States. But after

  A few nights ago, I looked up in the sky. The moon was just a little sliver, sort of on its side, like a bowl. And right next to it was the brightest star. I stood and stared, them glimmering, me goggling. I told myself to figure out what that brightest twinkle was, next

  Not a hoax. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. Here in the United States, we have been on one of the worst paths of any country in the entire world in dealing with the pandemic. Our death toll today is at 196,000. The number is mind-blowing to me. The lack of

  That’s one thing about Ohio. We’ve had a lot of presidents. When I was in grade school, we learned that there were eight from the Buckeye state. And most Ohioans still claim eight: William Henry Harrison, Ulysses Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Taft, and Warren Harding. All of these

  About once a week, sloths make a trip to the bottom of their tree to poop. Two things come to mind here. First, I wonder when the notion hits them because it takes a long time for a sloth to move anywhere, let alone all the way to the bottom of the tree. Are