Last Friday I did what I do too much in my dotage, namely bidding a final farewell to a friend. This time it was Billy O’Dell. Though significantly older than me (he graduated when I was in sixth grade), I always knew who he was. Then again, so did everyone in town, since he was a stellar ...

Acquired tastes are an odd thing. They all start the same — I can’t stand them. Then I continue not to stand them. Years go by, and suddenly, as if by magic, I find I like them. Yet how and when I began to like them eludes me. My sole exception to this rule is anchovies. I had my first ...

At last, summer has come to My Home Town and I know this because the tell-tale sign has appeared. Is it sunshine and warmth? No. Is it black flies and mosquitoes? No. Seasonal allergies? Lush green landscape? Shorts and t-shirts? No ... no ... and no. So what is it? It’s the ...

A year-and-a-half ago, almost to the day, I got out of bed feeling out of sorts. “Out of sorts” is an old-timey way of describing infirmities ranging from a gurgling gut to blood gushing out both ears. My out of sorts that morn was a light-headedness. It had started two days before and ...

When people from warmer areas of the US of A (which, if you think about it, is everywhere in the lower 48 except maybe International Falls) talk about living here year-round, they always say the same thing: “I could never deal with a winter that cold!” Cold is no issue with me — even ...

A couple Fridays ago, the Winter Carnival Committee held a drawing for their fabulous raffle. And when I say fabulous, I mean fabulous, since the prize was a complete set of Garry Trudeau Winter Carnival buttons. And against overwhelming odds and by sheer fluke, I was the winner. The odds ...