Welcome to this October’s yearly International Association of Dyslexia Awareness Month. There are many professional definitions that describe dyslexia, so depending on how it is defined, social …

Who of us do not know Pittsburgh Pirates’ Hall of Fame Robert Clemente or the civil rights leader Cesar Chavez? Those are only two of the long lists of  Hispanics who have added to our …

It was during my 12 years of attending Catholic schools that me and my fellow students were introduced to the church’s National Legion of Decency weekly movie rating newspaper. As a group, we …

Can you believe it? We are now into the ninth month of the year. September is the month of harvesting, and whose words can better illuminate the month than the 19 th -century poet Mary Howitt …

“The City of Mill Creek is dedicated to providing exceptional public services valued by the community to preserve and enhance our quality of life.” This is just one of the …

As National Suicide Prevention Week is Sept. 8-14, it’s appropriate to review what Brian Buckwalter had to say through his informative article “Creating Space,” published in the …

I know that grieving is an individualized odyssey, so be prepared that this article might bring up some troubling and, at the same time, many loveable thoughts. In 2014, while dealing with her …

It was around this time of the year back in my 1950s Catholic school days when my mother would take all three of her boys on a 10-cent bus ride from our north Portland house to the large Montgomery …

I recently read CNN reporter Katie Hunt’s June 2024 article, “Why Mount Rainier is the U.S. volcano keeping scientists up at night.” I also watched the Liev Schreiber-moderated …

What was happening in 1957? I was living in the Saint John’s District of Portland. I was into boy stuff, so except for high school plays the playhouse wasn’t on my to-do list. …

The British journalist Miles Kington (1941-2008) was insightful with his salad-making advice. “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit,” he said. “Wisdom is not putting it in a …

This is the final part of my three-article series. To recap, the first was about our flight to the other side of the world to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe where my son Dane and his betrothed, Sindi, …

This is the second of a three-part series on my recent adventure to Zimbabwe with family: son Dane, his bride Sindi, and Dane’s mother, Elaine. So what springs to mind when you hear the …

It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”  Those words reinforced how important it is to adventure out.   My son Dane …

Where have all the lemonade stands gone? Peter, Paul, and Mary’s 1962 song “Lemon Tree” was only one of many themes about lemons. I didn’t pay attention to lemons until I …

July includes our country’s birthday, so let’s hitch a ride in a DeLorean and go back to the past to answer a question: Which bird would be elevated to one of the new nation’s …

As a father, I learned long ago the reason I had children was to learn about my faults. The insightful Charles Wadsworth once said: “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, …

June is African American Music Appreciation Month. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter created it to acknowledge African American contributions to music as a vital part of our nation's cultural heritage. …

June is National Oceans Month, so let’s talk about our beautiful beaches. It was President James Polk (1795-1849) who used the term “from sea to sea,” which is now interpreted to …

May is set aside to think about Mental Health issues so let’s explore moral value conflicts and how those conflicts affect us and our relationships.   A few of my sources include Jack …