The Cactus Who Wanted to Be a Christmas Tree
Katie loves Christmastime. Getting presents is nice, and playing in the snow with her friends is fun, but what she likes best are all the pretty decorations...
Happy Birthday, The Assembly Line
On December 1, 1913, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the assembly line. Up to that time, each car was built one at a time in the same spot on the factory floor. Cars got built, but at a high cost and Henry Ford wanted his Model T, introduced five years earlier, to be transportation for
Time For My Annual Christmas Story
Early December is when I post my contribution to the Christmas season. This was inspired by a friend who works as a department store Santa. He once described meeting a little girl with a special wish, and I took it from there. Thanks, Santa I guess I shouldn’t complain. I live in a nice house
Season of Frost Flowers
Recently a friend asked me if I knew about frost flowers. No, I’d never heard of them, other than knowing a hard freeze spells the demise of ordinary flowers. Time for some research. According to the National Weather Service website (https://www.weather.gov/lmk/frost_flowers) — Frost flowers are thin layers (perhaps credit card thickness) of ice that are
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Cockroach?
What is the most dangerous insect? For us humans, it’s the mosquito, hands down. Cockroaches do not really fit into the danger category. Some of the approximately 4600 species do carry allergens, and they can carry sickness-causing bacteria, though there’s little evidence linking them to disease outbreaks. Yet when it comes to invoking sheer terror,
Original Poem — On Winter
It snowed last night, which reminded me to reprint my annual poem on winter. Perspective The son stood in the doorway,Behold a beautiful sight!As far as he could see,nothing but fluffy white! Today would be a timeof laughter and play begun.And most important of all,no school would spoil the fun! The father stood in the
Why Trust Science?
Why trust Science? This has become a pertinent question, especially in the current political climate. Science has a role in so many aspects of our lives, from our jobs to our health to our environment. Yet, despite being able to time solar eclipses down to the second, there seems to be more distrust of what
Runners’ Low
All of my friends know I run as a sport. It’s an integral part of my life, as it is for many other people. But the sport has an ugly side that is always present, but doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. I remember running with friends after work along the Santa Ana River
The Absolute, Very Best Veteran’s Letter
As a belated Veteran’s Day post, The Center For American War Letters at Chapman University in Orange, California is a manuscript collection of war letters from every American conflict. The Center’s Founding Director is Andrew Carroll, whose goal is preserve a million of these messages. If you have a letter pertaining to any armed conflict,
How To Be Popular
Everyone wants to be popular, right? So what can you do to increase your popularity quotient? Actually, I’ve just found an article that claims your key to popularity is what you don’t do. And as a bonus, not doing these can make you happier as well as more popular! Here is a list of nine
Why Do We Like To Be Scared
Did you have a scary Halloween? If so, how did that make you feel? A recent study published in the journal Emotion examined brain activity after a voluntary scary experience. The researchers found the experience put people better moods and with overall decreased brain activity. “We think it’s very similar… to the runner’s high experience,