As the great philosopher David Burge once intoned, “Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.” Or, to quote the title of a volume by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, “The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs the Dough.” The rules of our native ...

“Where does the other sock go when you put two in the dryer but only one comes out?” “I have a book that explains that,” I told my visitor as I scanned my bookcase. But the book wasn’t there. “That’s funny. I was just leafing through it a couple of days ago. Or was that last ...

I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. It was Saturday and I sat on my apartment balcony watching the rain. We’ve had so much rain. Rain and more rain. Soggy thoughts swished around my brain. I wondered, if rain falls on a town, and there’s no one to sit on a balcony to watch ...

It’s Kentucky Derby week, which reminds me, it’s time to get back to my plan — not to take over the world. Oh, no. I’m aiming to be crowned a Kentucky Colonel. My quest began last year when this farm boy from northeast Ohio wandered into the bluegrass wilds of Kentucky. “I’ll take ...

I do not have TV service hooked up in my apartment. I have neither cable, dish nor streaming. Nor do I have rabbit ears wrapped in tin foil — but I have fond memories of such high-tech solutions. (Hey, fellow old-timers, remember smacking the side of the set to fix the vertical hold? Fun ...

Years ago, when I was in the market for life lessons, I came across a run of cowboy wisdom. The wisdom included nuggets like these: • Don’t squat with your spurs on. • Always drink upstream from the herd. • Just ’cause trouble comes visiting doesn’t mean you have to offer it a ...