Columns

Most of this year has been very inconvenient, and as Christmas nears, I’m hearing more and more about the inconveniences of social distancing and the like. But upon reflection, I have concluded that God does some really amazing things through and perhaps in spite of...

The incoming call triggered my internal alarm. My Kentucky sister doesn’t typically phone during a workday. I assumed sad news. “Patty, what’s going on?” “Are you busy?” “Just making Quiche Lorraine for company. And you?” “I’m roosterin’ up,” she said. I envisioned...

Editor’s note: The following was submitted by Senator Kevin Daley, a Republican who represents the 31st state Senate District, which includes Bay, Lapeer and Tuscola counties. Working hard and putting in the effort to start your own business is a textbook American...

I don’t know which came first, Mom’s fruitcake or her sugar cookies. What girl notices grownup food when she’s anticipating the rolling pin, mixing bowl full of dough, and cookie cutters come December? Wrapped in cheesecloth soaked in Dad’s brandy, Mom’s fruitcake...

You may have seen me strolling through Almont these days. I get the feeling that I’m one of the few daily strollers, rain or shine, who’s not out and about strictly for their dogs’ sake. The people whose houses sit along my normal route probably regard my passing face...

Claude Sherman Spalding was born January 14, 1914 in Howell, Michigan to Clarence Lincoln Spalding (1863-1941) and Phleta Velma Austin Spalding (1878-1941). He grew up on the family farm which his grandfather, Calvin Spalding (1820-1897) had homesteaded about 1840. He...

I take a homegrown garlic bulb from its basket in the basement. Of the hardneck variety, I prefer the more complex flavor of Allium sativum ssp. ophioscorodon to the mild softneck, Allium sativum ssp. Sativum. While it’s on my mind, I must say cupping my fingers...

Two days after Christmas back when I was in the fifth grade, I was given my first pair of eyeglasses. I’ve viewed the world through augmented lenses ever since. Poor eyesight runs in my family (on my father’s side), so getting glasses was like a rite of passage. But...

The fruit resembles a green, softball-sized brain. But Lewis Meriwether didn’t know that in April 1804 when he found “some slips of the Osages Plums and Apples” in St. Louis. The explorer-botanist shipped them to Thomas Jefferson who shared the plants with Bernard...