This afternoon I watched a small flock of sparrows trying, without success, to get food out of our birdfeeder. It is one of those feeders with a door that closes if too much weight is on the perch. Sometimes it keeps the squirrels out but...
Just two weeks ago if asked what kind of squirrels do you have in your neighborhood I would have responded, “Gray and red.” I had no idea that we had flying squirrels. It seems they are nocturnal and since I am diurnal I had no...
There she sat, calmly looking at us through the glass door of our woodstove. She did not seem upset and obviously had no idea of her precarious situation. She was a sparrow that had come down the stovepipe into our family room. The odds on...
Are you as irritated as I when the phone rings and you get up out of your easy chair, rush across the room, only to listen to a recorded message telling you that you have been called in response to an inquiry you made? You...
I’m finishing up a most interesting biography of the Wright brothers and I am very impressed with the extraordinary amount of work and risk of life itself that went into their amazing feat, which had defied so many others who had tried. Many biographies are...
Something caught my eye today while reading I Kings. In chapter 7 we find the specs for the construction of Solomon’s magnificent temple. When we get to verses 23 ff. we find the details for the giant laver in the courtyard. Verse 23 reads as...
Oh, she was an ugly little girl. She was probably six-years-old and very ugly. There was nothing wrong with her hair and nothing wrong with her eyes and cheeks. Her nose was a nice normal nose. But she was an ugly little girl because of...
In the beginning of the twentieth century one in every four trees on the Appalachian Mountains was an American Chestnut tree. Historical records here in Leominster, Massachusetts record seeing the mountain range here in Leominster being white in the springtime when the chestnut trees were...
According to today’s Associated Press report, “Dozens of bills opposed by Gov. Paul LePage have become law because he misinterpreted the Maine Constitution and didn't veto the measures in time, the state's highest court said Thursday.” And so we add another chapter to human history...
I have a set of books called “Harvard Classics – The Five Foot Shelf of Books.” It is a collection of the greatest literature of the world. It comes with a daily reading guide that suggests reading selections for the day. I have all 51...