Columns

By Tom Kimmel Even the letters to the editor in the WSJ are full of good advice and so here from the Sept. 12-13 issue: “Today, I have more liquid assets than I ever thought possible. I tell those interested…

By John R. Nay This is a general commentary column, but recently I was thinking about my topic selection. I could offer statistics on my topic choices since I’ve been writing for the Journal Era, but I don’t want to…

By Brian E. Strayer A few years ago, a retired friend and I watched the movie “Dunkirk” (2017) about the amazing rescue between May 26 and June 4, 1940, of more than 338,000 British and French soldiers trapped between Hitler’s…

Sunflower seeds are popular with both birds and people. by Journalist Jay Our winter visitors and residents are beginning to arrive! White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows are moving into the area. Hopefully it can be a good winter for the Red-breasted…

“If wrinkles must be written on our brow, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.” -James A. GarfieldI am a believer in hugging. Hugging is the most beautiful form of communication. It allows…

I don’t know about you, but I have about had it with the high price of gas and diesel fuel. Living on a fixed income and not fixed expenses is starting to frustrate me. Or should I say that my…

    The hot button topic of the past week or so has been how, if turned loose, AI will wipe out human existence, perhaps as early as the beginning of the next decade.  My first thought was that this will…

A very good friend of mine was recently reduced to tears by a stranger on the phone. The caller claimed she was in trouble over jury duty and demanded that she show up with cash (credit card payments were not…

By Frank Passic Did you know that Albion High School once had its own fieldhouse for its athletic teams? In fact, that structure is still standing and is 100 years old this year! Let me explain. Our story goes back…

By Journalist Jay If you’re lucky enough to have a wetland, pond, or persistent wet area on your property, there is a very good chance you have cattails there. The cattail is an emergent plant commonly found on the edges…

By Brian E. Strayer Let the Cat Out of the Bag Have you ever noticed that cats, unlike dogs, seem to enjoy hiding inside bags and boxes? Over the course of my childhood, we had at least a dozen cats…

By John R. Nay Seeing that Page One(1) above-the-fold photo in last week’s Journal Era prompted a mix of emotions in me – all negative. The picture of the vandalism at the new park facilities left me unhappily surprised, saddened,…

By Tom Kimmel The other day I ran into—figuratively speaking—the Berrien Springs public works people who are best known for plowing snow and putting up Christmas decorations in town and who drive out to one of my farms regularly dumping…

“The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” -Charles DickensWith the world in its current situation, it’s not difficult to feel a little depressed. With a little help, the…

Recently I had an interesting experience at prayer. I was thinking about the belief that all of us are part of the “Communion of Saints” and that at mass the saints and angels are with us, though we cannot see…

   I have spent the past year and a half slowly working my way through some of the inventory Pat and I collected over the decades and came across two shoeboxes full of old letters she and her parents wrote…

Americans are once again feeling the pain every time they pull into a gas station.The national average for regular gasoline has climbed to about $4.48 a gallon, compared with $3.18 a year ago. Diesel has reached a record $6.51 a…

By Tom Kimmel Well, that last week’s introduction to this complex subject was almost too exciting for me to handle, particularly as I had a temporal incongruity in the middle of it all.  We will keep wading through, but first…

“Smile: It’s Autumn!” By John R. Nay Regular readers of my ravings probably noticed last week that something happened at the bottom of three columns of my article. I know that at least a few people noticed it. These things…

By Brian E. Strayer Kick the Bucket If someone told you that a mutual friend had “kicked the bucket” last week, what would you think? Doubtless you would consider their use of that phrase an insensitive way of informing you…