Columns
“Out and About” Sickness, mistakes, and fall colors
I’ve been quite lucky when it comes to staying healthy. We made it through the COVID pandemic and feel fortunate. We have kept current with our annual vaccinations and have always watched our diets. We have done all we can…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Halloween – Fun for grownups too
Happy Halloween!It’s one of my favorite holidays.As a youngster, months of planning went into the costume [my Mom loved to sew] and a trip into town on the big evening to go trick or treating was always topped off at…
May I Walk with You? ALTERNATIVE LIVING
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, while the Viet Nam war was raging, many young people sought out different lifestyles. Some people had had enough of the way the society was becoming materialistic, saw the futility of following the current…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorHunter’s MoonThe year’s largest supermoon, the October Hunter’s one — came and went last week.“With the leaves falling and the deer fattened,” says the Farmer’s Almanac, “it is time to hunt. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields,…
Life as Performance Art: Life as Conspiracy theories
Just before he left the White House for the last time, President Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers and threats of the Military Industrial Complex. To simplify it, the military was always looking for new and better weapons,…
Mike’s Musings: Move made me realize how important one vote is
I had the opportunity to watch SWING VOTE, a 2008 film starring Kevin Costner, that was about a down on his luck, fired from his job, alcoholic in New Mexico, that had the voter machine eat his ballot as he…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: Cooler weather coming – that means Halloween!
Well, with the middle of October gone by now, it looks like our brief revisit of summer temperatures may be just about over with. It has been a bit cooler this week but we might get a brief reprieve. The…
May I Walk with You? IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!
Why is it that we seem to worry more in the middle of the night? The common accepted thought is that the more rational part of our brain sleeps while the irrational part keeps on. It’s at those times that…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorBlowupIt was a tough week for Tropicanas. LasVegas blew up the Tropicana Oct. 9, then Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., hours later.The former hotel and casino, the Sin City Strip’s last…
Mike’s Musings: My fear of “Bambi” makes me a nervous Driver
The social media memes showing vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz fumbling with loading his shotgun at a pheasant hunt reminded that this is the time of year when my mind sometimes wanders to “Bambi” and the confrontations I have had with…
Life as Performance Art
I read an online religious news service article saying hunting was a form of conservation fulfilling God’s instructions to Adam and Eve to take dominion over the earth. That is an interesting perspective.For many years The Commercial Record printed a…
“Out and About” Writing, Painting, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” -Zig ZiglarLast week I had the privilege to meet with a group of writers. They are not as well known as they should be,…
HISTORICAL NOTEBOOK
By Frank Passic LAKE SHORE RAILROAD ONCE SERVICED ALBION With the mention of Jackson County railroads a few weeks ago in this publication, we are reminded that Albion has its own memorable railroad history which was a part of…
Looking Out: The best thing about autumn
by Jim Whitehouse “What’s your favorite season of the year?” I ask my pal Snooker. I’m hoping he says winter so I don’t have to feel like the Lone Ranger about my own preference. “Fall,” he says, taking a sip…
Pat’s Bits and Pieces: You can sure tell it is October in an election year
I know I’ve written quite a lot about fall lately, but this has sure been a beautiful week. Lots of sunshine, cooler weather, low humidity and trees are beginning to show color all over the area. I believe the color…
May I Walk with You? WAR AND RELIGION
Someone said to me recently that most of the wars ever fought were over religion. It was as if he was blaming war on religion and that if we did away with religion and religious people that there would be…
Blue Star
By Scott SullivanEditorDating BaseWhy do I need DatingAdvice.com? At my age I do only blind dates and carbon dating. Still, for us fossils, there’s always something new.The website says “hardworking” is the one word single women use most to describe…
Mike’s Musings: Donate if you can, Helene a monster
We all are too familiar with it now. I am writing about the devastation that we witnessed in western North Carolina last week. Hurricane Helene, which swept through Florida quickly and then motored up to the Carolina’s within a blink…
Looking Out: Nothing but chunky
by Jim Whitehouse “We could use the Victorio Strainer machine,” I say to my beloved wife Marsha as we stand looking at a huge bag of apples. I’m referring to an old-fashioned gizmo we’ve had for decades. You cut the…
May I Walk with You? COMMANDMENT NUMBER III
“Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.” One doesn’t have to look far torecognize that some of American culture no longer practices keeping Sunday as a day for God, family, and rest. In the past things were different. Many remember…
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