Whoopee!

Niagara Falls, Ontario. Whoopee! Boy there’s a lot going on in that town — a lot more than I remembered. Of course the last time your humble scribe visited said water attraction, he was with a group of smart-alec ninth graders from Sashabaw Junior High School — and that my friends was, as ancient Native […]

The Wonderful World of DEET

Just like the weather in Michigan, clothes styles and the way folks wear their hair, I have come to believe all things change. Nothing of this earth is stoic, static or simply stuck in one place. What threw me over the edge and to my revelation was a recent trip to the store. One of […]

Change is a good thing, right?

I must be a very shallow man. Maybe I’m just thick in the noggin? Son Shamus has taken to calling me, ‘Dad.? I’m not used to it and I am not sure how I feel about it. Let me back up here a moment. The word ‘dad? is not a four-letter word, hence some would […]

Things sure have changed in 228 years

This past weekend with fireworks and much merriment, we celebrated the declaration of our country’s independence. Not, as some get confused, our being independent from the old world’s superpower, England. On July 4, 1776 we merely announced to the world that we were free and were prepared to back up our words with action. ‘When […]

Do female frogs croak?

Growing up in the late 1960s through the 1970s one of the things my family did together, after dinner, most nights, was watch game shows. We watched Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Match Game, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Let’s Make a Deal and Hollywood Squares. (I am sure there’s more, but space is tight.) […]

I want to start seeing some red

Readers — listen up! (That almost makes sense.) I want you to rev up your red writing utensils and get ready to start marking up your Oxford Leader (or Lake Orion Review, Clarskston News and Citizen). We want you to show us what you read. To do that, cross out those articles and stories you […]

Reagan Remembered

‘Where’s your favorite guy?? Sean, 4, asked me, as he, his older brother Shamus and I watched the horse-drawn funeral hearse on the television screen. ‘He’s under that American flag,? I answered. ‘In a coffin.? ‘Your favorite guy is dead,? Sean stated flatly. ‘Yes,? I agreed. ‘That man’s name is Ronald Reagan. He’s one of […]

Addams Family vs The Munsters

This past weekend the good folks in charge of the TV-Land cable network put together an Addams Family marathon. Back to back to back to back to — you get the picture — back episodes of the early to mid 1960s sitcom. One evening before the marathon Jen asked me, ‘Why do some people like […]

Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirts and Michigan undies

As everybody and their Aunt Matilda have pointed out (and rightly so), Monday was a day to honor the American soldier and those who died in service of our country. Noble, yes . . . but not the point of this column, this week. Nope, today I write that Memorial Day is also the historical […]

I am all for the modern world.

Rain, rain. Everywhere rain. Rain on the grass. Rain on the roads. Rain in the basement . . . ouch! We got rain. We got wind. Then after two days of being drenched and blown around, we lost power. And, while we were not exactly living a PBS Colonial House existence, things were tough at […]