Columns

There’s no question that 2022 was challenging. A stubborn pandemic, Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine and the resulting inflation have all squeezed American families.

“Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover

I will miss science Twitter.

The Yankee cavalryman had no idea what lay in store when he raised his sword that Easter Sunday afternoon. How could he? All he knew was he had a job to do.

Growing up in the small town of Delaware City, Delaware, one of the first lessons I learned, playing in the dirt street in front of our house, was: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

This week’s storm put some snow on the ground for a white Christmas. The heavy winds made travel harder, keeping families together as we reached Dec. 25.

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

Critics on their social media soapboxes have spent the past month loudly proclaiming that Christmas is too commercial. The nub of their complaint is that the true meaning of Christmas is lost amid the buying frenzy that marks the holiday. They claim the essence of Christmas lies not in gifts, decorations and festive eating and drinking, but in non-material things, such as celebrating the birth of Christ, reconnecting with family and friends or spreading peace and “goodwill” toward others.

We don’t fight our wars to win anymore. We fight them to get to a stalemate.

My mother used to say she dreaded the day she returned to school after Christmas vacation. The standing assignment in that small country school was to write about their holiday and the gifts they received.