(This Jottings was first published on January 17, 2007) I don’t mean to brag (Yes, I do!), but I was the champion speller of the eighth grade in Bancroft. The year, 1938. Yes, I’ll admit the competition wasn’t great, since there were only 12 in that grade, including me. What irks me to this day […]
(This Jottings was first published on Thursday, March 21, 1984.)Think about it!Time magazine, which makes such a big thing of it’s covers, showed a 1-room school as a lead to their coverage on “America’s schools are getting better”.Too, the campaign by school-conscious people called “We Care” has as its symbol the 1-room school.Yet, no one […]
This is from the Jim’s Jottings archives. First publilshed on Feb. 9, 2011. The same day the news media was filled with snowfall warnings, our government issued warnings on ‘changes we should make right now!? I guarantee the snow warnings were heeded quicker and with more action than the ‘changes.? We were promised a foot […]
Editor’s Note: Big Jim is busy relaxing, so enjoy this Jottings gem from March 2006. I’ve become a lot more interested in cars lately. I suppose it’s due partly because mine is four years old, and partly because it’s the season. Starting with the extreme ballyhooing of International Auto Show in Detroit in January, continuing […]
Two weeks ago I told you the Number One reason for getting up in the morning was to ‘hear the news.? The other Saturday had two ‘momentous? news leads. #1. Flint’s contaminated drinking water has become national news condemning all possible people for allowing this to continue. #2. The news brought Michael Moore to town […]
Just another cynical Jottings — well it won’t all be cynical, just things that are keeping our government running in Washington. Like: Our congressmen have been especially busy recently making federal rules to protect a bat found in Michigan. Notice I said ‘a bat?! Not a flock, but ‘A? bat. * * * Ham and […]
Sometimes sound advice is timeless advice. In otherwords, good advice. I recently found (actually refound) an old, yellowed piece of paper. On the paper was hand-typed a reprint of an opinion piece from long ago. I want to say it was hand-typed in the 1960s, but I ain’t sure. The typist dated the editorial as […]
When we first started this Jim’s Jottings holiday tradition, the two grandchildren Dan and Karen Offer (inset picture) were small enough to fit on my knees. It was 1988. Dan was 3-years-old and Karen was four-months-old. In that first picture, Karen had no hair, I had more and I still wore a suit and tie […]
From the Jim’s Jotting Archives. This column was first published on Dec. 10, 2008 So far this fall I’ve got on my little John Deere tractor, snow blade in place, and pushed the snow aside twice. It wasn’t so long ago I’d complain to myself, bemoaning the task at hand . . . that of […]
Guess what y totally favorite food is . . . Chicken’s feet. Yes, I said chicken’s feet! Chicken was our family’s favorite. My dad raised them, he nested them, and he hatched them in his incubator. At this time we lived on a farm, fenced in our chickens, scalded them to a plucking temperature, and […]