Opinion

Today I heard a newscaster say that America is feeling a sense of normalcy observing Independence Day activities nationwide. The Big Bay Boom was back in San Diego and in Escondido we had our fabulous fireworks show at Grape Day Park.  I might add that there were multiple locations of smaller fireworks displays around town. One woman asked me “is […]

What do you say to a man upon his retirement who has dedicated 36 years of his life to serving his community? There is so much that I and many, many others can say but it seems that Chokran, Danke, Hvala, Mahalo, Grazie, Takk, Gracias or Thank You are most appropriate. These are just some of the languages of thanks […]

We have all struggled this past year as we tried to both physically, psychologically and economically survive the coronavirus plague. No one has perhaps struggled to survive as much as local small business. Restrictions had to be placed on the occupancy and activity of many small businesses to help reduce the spread of the virus and to help contribute to […]

Are you feeling it? That sense of euphoria you get awaiting an event only days away something we have been anticipating for over a year. Oh, I’m not talking about Cruisin Grand. However, with June 15 on the horizon hopefully we will be allowed to shed our masks and swarm Grand Avenue on Friday the 18th. But, as Ron Popeil […]

I’m currently reading the recently released book, “King Richard,” sort of a mini-bio of the 37th president of the United States, the only American president to leave that post by his own choice. It’s “mini” because the author, Michael Dobbs, focuses on just one segment of Richard Nixon’s second term in office, from the day he was inaugurated to the […]

It appears that we are getting closer and closer to what we knew as normal. After 14 and a half months it is heartening to see people coming out to public events and the socializing that comes with sharing experiences.  The Indy 500 had 135,000 people come out to see the greatest spectacle in auto racing. Now this is somewhat […]

Some years ago, before he retired, I enjoyed reading columns written by Logan Jenkins who wrote for the T-A/NC Times before moving south sharing his work in the SD U-T.  Numerous times he would make me consult my Funk and Wagnalls dictionary. For the uninformed a dictionary is Wikipedia in hard copy. And every time I would email to tell […]

You may have heard the story of the 3-legged pig. A reporter visits a celebrated three-legged pig’s farm where the porker is wandering in a pen—he looks up the farmer who owns him. “What’s the story on the pig?” asks the reporter, who—like most of my breed—avoids small talk and rudely cuts to the chase. “That’s a remarkable pig,” begins […]

It was late 2020 when leaders of the Grand Old Party announced that they could offer no new ideas for the country and would simply do whatever Donald Trump instructed them to do. That announcement came in the form of a press statement during the Republican National Convention. Its substance:  that in contradiction to the long-standing convention tradition of providing […]

Last week Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays celebrated his 90th birthday. “The Say Hey Kid” was unquestionably one of the greatest players to hit and catch a baseball and as a youngster I had the privilege of watching him play in the worst baseball park in major league baseball.  The Polo Grounds in New York City was […]