My tummy is getting rounder in large part because of my yen for cheese. “Just say no” would be a better title than say cheese. I prefer it freshly cut from a wedge or block rather than pre-sliced. But either will suffice when it comes to satisfying the call for cheese. I also like it added to grocery-bought frozen pizza … to savor it melted. Either way, solid or melted, it’s a hit! Do I count calories? Not when I’m slicing a mouthful off a big chunk. So you see I like to snack on this dairy treat. Of course, snacking on dairy means different things to different ...

Living on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean presents its challenges, here and there. Some days I can’t find my favorite brand of tart cherry juice because the shelves haven’t been restocked. And what about green onions that I once called scallions. Where are they when I need them? The list gets longer and more serious. When you live on a land mass that juts out of a sea, friendships can take their hits. But not the water resistant kind that touch our toes like distance isn’t a care. So this doesn’t mean that all friendships can stay alive after how...

Bryce has a perplexing problem. Something’s missing in her life. Her cell phone’s gone. No forwarding address, no heartfelt good byes … just one day it was there and the next day it wasn’t! I have a theory that it happened about the same time she started “planking” (looks like a push-up) in the gym. Gravitational forces may have re-situated her precious aqua phone far from home. I keep telling her that it’s on an adventure. Away. But where? Nobody said it would be easy. But unlike me she hasn’t got the hang of worrying. Last heard from, she was...

You may have guessed. Lately, our kitchen has become a meeting site for those tiny black ants that seem to prefer late summer  weather. Ours love purple onion scraps but also are adventurous eaters who will sample whatever’s within reach — and they have a very long reach. We squoosh them with our fingers but have begun wondering if they deserve greater respect and  a change of scenery.   We look to you our readers to show your compassion for family expansion by adopting a few or maybe 100. We will deliver them, likely attached to a food bit rather than our arms or knees which they ...

I never bought much online when I lived on the mainland.  Not one single thing in my 20’s in New York or during my four years in Pennsylvania. That’s when Amazon was still known best as a long river, not far from the Selym River (family joke). I just checked the date: and Amazon.com was incorporated July 5th, 1994, in Seattle, not that far from where I once lived in Beaverton, Oregon…  but very, very far from the second longest river in the world. Take note that there was some name changing that took place — the original name for Amazon was Cadabra, Inc. which got dropped...