“Beekeeping” Gone Bad   Lest you begin to believe that I was an infallible savant when it came to animal behavior as a youngster, here’s a telling anecdote that will quickly dispel that notion…   I was walking home from a friend’s house one day when I spotted yellow jackets (meat-eating wasps) coming out of…

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There are times when I surprise myself–I mean really, really surprise myself–as a professional writer. I wish I could be more specific here and give you details and even brief excerpts, but the client I’m serving asked me to sign an NDA (a Non-Disclosure Agreement) so I have to keep under my hat all aspects…

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  I don’t know what I’ve had against water that I’ve felt the need to adulterate it all these years with carbonation and additional flavors. I’m beginning to really enjoy it “naked”, which is a good thing.   Jackie recently gave me two of her travel mugs (she’s down-sizing her mug collection), one of which…

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This morning I went to McLendon’s and got two half-sheets of exterior plywood and five 26″ 4 x 4s so I could build a new platform in the shed for the goats. The one that was there didn’t let me get behind it easily enough to gather the eggs that the chickens are laying back…

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Here’s something I don’t see anyone talking about, unless I’ve missed it:   Are the folks who comprise this year’s Electoral College in danger and, if so, is it moral danger or mortal danger?   I ask this because I know for a fact that I’d be real nervous right now if I were among…

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Overnight I thought of three more animal-related stories to add to my upcoming Kris and Kritters blog–so I added them this morning. The word count for the document now is 32,595 so I have, essentially, a year’s worth of blog posts “in the can” to roll out every Saturday in 2017. I’m getting very excited…

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Right now I’m hooked on books by Roland Merullo. I’ve read Breakfast with Buddha, Lunch with Buddha, and Dinner with Buddha and am now in the middle of American Savior. Good stuff.   Merullo is an enjoyable writer to hang with…thought-provoking, too, which is always good.   The Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner books comprise a…

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My First Cat Timothy Mom and Dad brought the first pets into our home. Timothy was your typical tabby-striped cat. I named him after my cousin, Tim Smith. Timothy was neutered, laid back, imperturbable, and decidedly perfect for a first pet—when treated right! In fact, he was even perfect for a pet when perturbed, because…

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Yesterday George (my nephew Phil’s father-in-law), Lisa and I helped Jackie (my sister) pack Christmas gifts from one room into two other rooms at a high school in Parkland in preparation for tomorrow’s Winterfest event. I may end up there this morning, too, but won’t know for a while. There are supposed to be additional…

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The chief lesson from Standing Rock is this: “When people stand together, we win.”   When we allow politics, “isms” and “phobias”(sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia) to divide us into warring camps, we lose.   Tribes across the nation united as one at Standing Rock. For months. Military veterans united and arrived in droves to put…

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