I truly believe the 1950s were the best possible time to be growing up in America.  When I say that to friends or family they’re quick to point out that I attended high school, graduated from college and later served in the Marine Corps during the decade of the 60s....

It’s been said that millions of Americans suffer from a malady referred to as panophobia.  For those unfamiliar with the term, panophobia means the “fear of everything.”  It’s that uneasy feeling of insecurity that usually manifests itself on Sunday evenings and...

English isn’t the easiest language to master, and here’s a humorous look at the reason why. How does someone just learning the language understand that the bandage was “wound” around the “wound,” that the farm was used to “produce” “produce,” the dump was so full that...

When I was younger the study of words seemed an academic endeavor, if not downright boring.  But an experience I had in Vietnam that changed all that. Early during my tour in country I began feeling discomfort with one of my wisdom teeth.  As it turned out, it was...

My wife Bobbi and I have been truly blessed to travel to Africa so frequently.  The African bush is magical.  It’s both spiritual and raw, all while it’s authenticity washes over you in ways that must be experienced to be understood. Recently I was re-reading Lawrence...

A general characteristic of the Model T now generally forgotten is that it was the first motorcar of consequence to put the driver’s seat on the left.  Prior to this, nearly all car manufacturers (of which there were perhaps a thousand) placed the driver on right...

When re-heating leftovers in the microwave space out a circle in the middle, it will heat up much more evenly. Use a squeeze-ketchup bottle top (preferably a clean one) with your Shop-Vac to clean your keyboard, phone, microphone or other nook on an electronic device....

Of all the Christmas movies the classic 1983 film, “A Christmas Story,” starring Peter Billingsly, Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon remains my favorite.   A period piece set in the late 1940s; the film is a caricature of Christmas for millions. The movie captures...

We were running a bit late for our afternoon/evening game drive at the Vumbura water camp in the Okavango Delta.  I was unpacking camera gear while Bobbi was doing a quick change after our hot and dusty morning outing. Bobbi was putting on a clean pair of safari pants...

Most of us think we know what we need in life, but do we really?  In 1943 Abraham Maslow published the paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” detailing his theory about the hierarchy of human needs, which he put into five categories. Physiological needs, i.e.,...