Every American ought to be outraged at the deplorable treatment of our sailors and Marines aboard the Abraham Lincoln. The carrier left San Diego on November 21, 2025, on what was supposed to be a deployment to the Pacific, but it was diverted to the Middle East, arriving in the Arabian Sea in January 2026. Except for a brief, one-day port visit to Guam on December 11–12, 2025, the crew has been confined to the ship continuously for nine months. As an old sailor myself, I ca

At one time, the Elton Apple Orchard was New Hampshire's largest. It was in the town of Hampton Falls, a mile from our house in Seabrook. During apple season, we made frequent visits to Elton’s sales room to get apples and apple cider. One of my fondest memories of growing up is the smell of Mom's apple pies baking in the oven. The orchard had a fascinating history. Its owner, Jim Elton, was a Mormon from Utah. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Mormon Church

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) If you are into foraging for backyard edibles, let me commend to you the lowly dandelion. The English name, dandelion, comes from the French dent de lion , meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaf margins. The plant is also known by dozens of other names such as blowball, milk witch, lion's-tooth, yellow-gowan, and Irish daisy. The English folk name “piss-a-bed”—like the French pissenlit—refers to the diuretic effect

Ever since we joined our local Costco in 2012, we have always picked up two of their famous $1.50 quarter‑pound hot dog-and-drink combos to take home. Back then, the system was simple and foolproof: Go to the central register Give the cashier your order Pay with cash or card Take your receipt Wait for your number to be called Pick up your order Later, Costco replaced the cashiers with touchscreen kiosks. Young customers liked the new system, but older people approached the

For over 150 years, Durgin Park served the appetites of workers in Boston’s Faneuil Hall Market district, eventually attracting businessmen, students, celebrities, and tourists worldwide. Although the restaurant’s origins reached back to Revolutionary‑era Boston, its reputation for seafood, broiled meats, boiled dinners, and Indian pudding didn’t begin until 1874. That's when John Durgin and Eldridge Park joined their father-in-law, John G. Chandler, a wealthy merchant, in op

NASA Photo Search for "Apollo hoax" on Amazon, and you will find at least twenty books offering "proof" that the moon landings never happened. Some were published as recently as 2026 and appear to be selling well. It's disturbing to discover how many people still embrace these idiotic conspiracy theories. The big news on September 9, 2002, was that astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, had punched out a moon-landing denier. It was the culmination of

In Madagascar, we bought our fruits and vegetables in the native market known as the Zoma. One seasonal item that appeared while we were there was a small green fruit with a bumpy skin that seemed quite popular with the Malagasy people. According to my recollection—which differs somewhat from the Shaws’—Mary Shaw wanted to learn the name of this strange fruit and how it was used. She asked their French-speaking maid and was told, “It’s good to eat.” Every Malagasy she questio

Wednesday, May 27, 2026: We took Maggie back to the animal shelter where we had adopted her in 2010 and had her put to sleep. She was nearly twenty years old and totally blind. We hated to do it, but she was on her last legs, and the blindness confused her. She would yowl mournfully when she couldn't find out where she was. A strange thing happened when we got to the shelter. Maggie had been meowing in her carrier all the way there, but the moment we arrived, she went silent.

I attended my second No Kings rally on March 28 in front of the Loudon County courthouse. This rally was even bigger than the first one I attended in October, and Betty joined me this time. We brought fold-up chairs because we knew we couldn't be on our feet for two hours. It was cloudy, windy, and cool, but thankfully, it didn’t rain. While there, we made friends with the middle-aged lady from Colorado who sat next to us. She held up a small, hand-lettered sign that read, "

For the past 19 years, I’ve started most mornings by checking Astromomy Picture of the Day (APOD) to behold the wonders unfolding across the universe, and Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) to witness the dynamic forces reshaping our planet. This daily ritual grounded me in the awe of creation. Sadly, EPOD published its final image and narrative on my birthday—September 30, 2025—marking the end of a remarkable chapter in science communication. EPOD, a service of the Univ

My first job after graduation from USF was with Smiths Industries in Largo, Florida. Smiths made aircraft instruments for both civil and military aviation. One of their main contracts was with the Marine Corps to supply the heads-up display used in the AV 8a Harrier vertical takeoff and landing jet. My job title was Engineering Administrator. I took care of all the routine things that the engineering manager didn't want to deal with. At the time, Smiths was rapidly e

This is for all you older folks out there whose hearing aids no longer cut it—especially in noisy social settings where understanding what someone is saying requires an exhausting level of effort. Here’s a typical conversation in a restaurant: Server: “Would you like lemon with your water?" Me: “Yes, I’m ready to order." Wife: “He didn’t hear you. Yes, he’ll have lemon." Me: “What’s this about lemons?" Son: “Dad, turn your hearing aid up!” Eventually, I’d had enough of those

Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth, has fascinated philosophers and artists for centuries. She represents Mother Earth, fertility, and the raw forces of nature. This reflection traces her mythological origins to her evolving relevance in today’s environmental crisis. Mythological Origins of Gaia In ancient Greek cosmology, the universe began with Chaos —a vast emptiness. Out of that void came Gaia, Earth’s solid foundation and primal mother. She gave birth to the sky, the m

The summer before I joined the Coast Guard, I worked at a gas station in Salisbury, MA. My boss was Dan Wolford. Dan had a blue '53 Oldsmobile 88 convertible which his wife, Margo, kept most of the time. Margo was a stout, brash, blond woman who took great pains to ignore me. She would drop by the station from time to time, usually to argue with Dan about something, then drive off in a huff. My first of several encounters with Stony's wife came one morning when she pulled up

The summer before I started college, I picked up a second job on weekends at Ann’s Diner in Salisbury, MA. I’d seen Ann’s ad in the local paper for a Friday and Saturday night grill man and applied in person. When she asked about my experience, I told her some things about cooking in the Coast Guard that were somewhat true, and I was hired on the spot. I figured; how hard could it be to fry a hamburger or grill a cheese sandwich? Friday and Saturday nights were when the drunk