Children should spend lots of time outdoors. In every season. That’s my stand and I am sticking to it. As my son says, when he was little, the worst punishment in the world was to have to stay inside. For the first eight years of his life, we lived a half-mile off a country road back in the woods above a bayou. He happily played outside, roamed the woods, puttered around in an old rowboat, sledded in the winter and learned to fish. As an adult, he still loves the outdoors. More »

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Part of it is being with my loved ones without the emotional freight of Christmas expectations. (Christmas is more of a religious holiday for me). Thanksgiving is also about the food as many of my favorites show up for the feast, and that makes me even more thankful. More »

“Knit one, purl one, buy one.” So my late friend Liz summed up her frustration when I was teaching her to knit many years ago. She mastered it enough to make a beautiful, blue mohair pullover for a special man in her life. As I recall, she only made one or two other items in her brief knitting career. More »

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about going back to college for the third time. I began taking an Introduction to Philosophy class at Northwestern Michigan College in early September. This was a condition for acceptance into a distance learning masters program in theology. I have taken a number of non-credit courses at NMC, but this was my first “real” college class in about 15 years. More »

Reading Rebecca Lindamood’s post on braising meats and related subjects not only made me hungry — I could practically inhale the heavenly smells — but it also reminded me that I had left some old favorites off my recent post on fall foods. More »

Puzzles. Mostly crossword puzzles. Big, fat, thick puzzles like a good roast beef sandwich. I love doing crossword puzzles. Everything from the small, fairly easy dailies to the big, dense, complicated Sunday New York Times and Wall Street Journal puzzles. More »

A few weeks ago, I received a card from my nephew, Chris, and his wife Mindy. It was an UnBirthday card — the first UnBirthday card I have ever received. It was not only a delightful card in words and design, but it also brought the welcome news that they would be visiting in October (they live downstate). More »

After recently posting a blog on running, I realized that there was more to say. For one thing, I need to clarify something. I did win something once (besides my own self respect). It was a 10K (6.2 miles) race about 20 years ago. It never occurred to me that I had won anything, so at the end of the race, grateful to have completed the course and not be the last person in, I went home. More »

Something happens to me when summer gives way to the cool, crisp days of fall. As temperatures drop and the days grow shorter, I start to crave certain foods. I find myself leafing (how appropriate) through my tattered recipe folder in search of old favorites. More »

On a perfect late summer day in September, I found a parking place in the “Cherry” lot at Northwestern Michigan College, grabbed my legal pad, pens and other paraphernalia, and walked over to Scholars’ Hall where I took a seat in the Introduction to Philosophy class. Previously, I had applied and been accepted, registered and paid my fees. So, here I was in college. Again. Third time. More »