Cracker Barrel

Paging through a book of essays by the late journalist Sidney Harris, I came upon some thoughts that seem particularly relevant to our time - a time when an alarming number of citizens proudly flaunt their ignorance, claiming their lack of knowledge or experience somehow qualifies...

Every September the same thing happens. The coolness in the air hints that summer is nearly over. And I, slow learner, look back and realize once again that I spent too much time working and not enough savoring. There is modest consolation in the fact that I am not alone. Almost everyone...

On a recent trip out west, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending several days with people we love while being introduced to the magic of their part of the world, including the heart-stopping beauty of Idaho and the fairytale features of Yellowstone Park.

For many years I have shared the anguish of those millions of people who love our country and its freedoms while looking aghast upon the ugliness and waste it seems hellbent upon producing. How, I have wondered, can the free enterprise system result in so many forms of degradation?...

We've heard it all before. From infancy we've been taught that members of our species, Homo sapiens, are the cleverest creatures in the cosmos, endowed with any number of unique and marvelous abilities. "Only humans can learn to use tools." "Only humans are self-aware." "What sets...

This past Sunday millions of mothers throughout America received various sorts of special treatment. Some got breakfast in bed, perhaps cooked to imperfection by loving family members whose good intentions outstripped their culinary skills. Others were treated to brunch at a restaurant,...

Living as we do by the shores of a marshy lake, we are very much aware of our neighbors, the frogs. Each spring, right about now, the first of the croaking begins. When we hear it we are invariably thrilled. More than the return of the juncoes or the trilling of the red-winged blackbirds,...

I recently rediscovered an article clipped from Psychology Today, in which Stephan Rechtschaffen, director of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, delivered some intriguing observations about our modern sense of time. "There are cultures on this planet that have no word for minute...

Several years ago the mystery writer Georges Simenon published a book titled "When I Was Old." In the book he recounted a period of several years during which he felt old beyond his years; old, not in a wise and mellow way, but simply old. What Simenon found most troubling about those...

Years ago, a history teacher told me it takes about a century for mankind to accept a new idea. I don't know how he arrived at that figure, but the older I get the more certain I am that it's optimistic. Why so long? In part, I suppose, because we're creatures of habit, and habits...

Scrounging through the bookshelves for something interesting to read, I came upon a little volume published years ago titled "The End of the Road," written by none other than the famous Motel Six ad man, Tom Bodett. Mr. Bodett does more than just drum up business for a motel chain....

Fresh out of New Year's resolutions? How about adopting mine? This year I resolve to let go of everything that bogs me down. Every possession, every memento, every relationship, every fantasy, every preoccupation with the past - everything that blockades my growth and saps my ability...

Having recently published my first novel, I was beginning the tiresome task of cleaning up the hundreds of notes and computer entries left in its wake when I came upon the following, written many years ago by my hero, Sydney Harris, and originally published in his book "Strictly Personal." Harris,...

This past week I was honored to say a few words at the memorial service of an old friend. In the week preceding the event, I spent several hours scrolling through memories of the times we'd spent together. One of the first things that grew clear was that my friend, Ralph, had made...

There is, in each of us, a longing for life lived on simpler, more innocent terms. Aware that our day-to-day lives contain far too much stress and not nearly enough satisfaction, we imagine a time in the future (retirement, perhaps?) when things will slow down and joy will well...