Opinion

We are quickly coming to everyone’s favorite time of year. The signs of summer’s close are the start of school, Labor Day, and another hunting season. Autumn in most states brings cool mornings and warm evenings. It’s the days that country folks enjoy the screen door and open windows. The air seems cleaner and fresher,…

Yearly doctor’s visit. I felt great. I just wanted refills. I offered my arm for the blood pressure cuff, shoved my index finger inside the hinged oximeter, and confirmed my pill list. The nurse recorded it all. Time to see the doctor… Nope. The nurse’s pulled out a numbered checklist as long as a CVS…

Not sure if this is because I am getting older, but recently in the evenings, I have enjoyed watching the barn swallows swoop in and out of the alleyway as we feed the horses and put them up for the night.   The barn swallow is a magnificent creature and its ability to dive and…

By Chris Enroth, Horticulture Educator University of Illinois Extension The summer is nearly over, and I still haven’t picked any of the large tomatoes that I painstakingly started indoors and nurtured in the early spring. Meanwhile, the “wild” cherry tomatoes that reseed themselves every year in my yard seem to be doing great and have…

If you are a baseball fan, by now you probably have heard of the Savannah Bananas. This baseball team, based in Savannah, Georgia, was built around the concept that baseball is a great game but it is much too slow and serious. By all accounts, fans who attend these Savannah Banana games are entertained by…

It’s hard to lose weight when the most fun thing you do is eat. A sad commentary on my social life (and bad grammar), I know. But I own it. No matter what else I do every day, my internal food alarm clangs out and I am excited to have another chance to dine.

I’ve been riding a bicycle for about ten years now. It has been an enjoyable exercise that has allowed me to see new areas and to see old areas from a different perspective. Like any exercise, you have to mix up the routine to keep from being bored. For the past three months, my rides…

Preparation for deer season is in full swing. Just check out any of your favorite groups or people on social media and you’ll see that we’re all doing the same thing. Checking stands and cameras. Making food plots. Shooting bows and guns. Gathering clothes, boots, and other gear. It’s all happening right now. In some…

We have many coffee cups. They’re all capable of holding liquids. All have a handle with a hole for digits, and they are various sizes and colors. Some have words on them: “World’s Best Grandpa.” “Coffee Lover.” Even the dreaded: “Live. Love. Laugh.” For years, John used the same coffee cup. It’s a black, unassuming…

Several weeks ago, I wrote a column about the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park that was conceived by Bill Veeck to draw more fans to the ball park.   It was a disaster.   But that is not the only promotional concept that went south in Major League Baseball.   Consider the infamous “Ten…