Ramblings From The Ranch By Christina Bennett   What are your thoughts on pit bulls? Do you have some preconceived notions that they are gang members’ dogs, maltreated and mean, not fit for family life? Are you scared when you see one headed your way? Perhaps this little story about Princessa will challenge some of […]

Find Feathered Friends By Allen C. Turner and Judy Boyd—Field Ornithologists Mockingbirds: Pirates of the High Cs   “Tra la la, tweedle dee dee dee It gives me a thrill To wake up in the morning To the mockingbird’s trill … On Mockingbird Hill” —Vaughn Horton Gray with two white wing-bars, the Northern Mockingbird is

Profiling Tepehua By Moonyeen KingPresident of the Board for Tepehuamoonie1935@yahoo.com   Clinician’s view PASSIVE SUICIDAL IDEATION as a wish to die but not by ones own hand. Preferably an accident, terminal illness, dying in sleep, heart attack, but still opening a window at the same time for intervention. Similar to a disturbed youth getting into

Veteran’s Day By Robert Drynan Korean War Memorial, Washington D.C.   A patrol moves silently through the perimeter. The darkness shrouds their movement and the cascading rain muffles their progress. It’s a large patrol, a dozen men, led by a sergeant who has been in the line for eight months. Occasionally lightning in the distance

Front Row Center By Michael Warren Lakeside Little Theatre—Breaking News—   The first play of the season, “Lunenburg” by Norm Foster, due to open on November 8, has been cancelled. Evidently, a cast member had a job opportunity in Mexico City and decided to leave the show. Subsequently, another cast member stood down for personal reasons. Thus,

Welcome to Mexico By Victoria Schmidt Customer Service in Mexico   One of the things I’ve always tried to avoid is dealing with customer service in any country. Yesterday, it took two telephones, a computer, and four transfers and over one hour to achieve a deposit into my checking account. This was using their “easy

Be Yourself—Everyone Else Is Taken By Michael McManmon   The optimist says the glass is half full, the pessimist says the glass is half-empty, and the person with Asperger’s or autism says the glass is made of silicon melted and formed into a shape to hold liquids for humans to drink. The analytical brain of

The Coon Hunt At Maple Grove By Linda Hunt   “It’s an awful night out tonight! Fog, drizzle, just awful!” my wife, Lyddie sighed. “The sap will be runnin’. Our buckets will be full come morning. Coons will be running tonight.” “Don’t go out hunting in this. You’ll catch your death of cold. You won’t

“To The Moon, Alice!” By Judy Dykstra-Brown   On The Honeymooners, “Ralph Kramden” (played by Jackie Gleason) had a phrase that those of us of a certain age can’t help but remember.  “To the moon, Alice, to the moon!” he would rasp at his wife (played by the inimitable Audrey Meadows) whenever he had no

Creating True Friendships By Barbara Hildt   We all need and want true friends. A few good friends are more valuable to us than having dozens or even hundreds of “friends” in Facebook. A true friend is someone you can count on being there for you when you’re in need or feeling down. The friend