48 Hours The Movie, Starring Our New Cat

by Kevin Burton    This is a happy cat story – thank God.    I wasn’t so happy around mid-day yesterday though.    Sunday after church we ran a special errand,  to pick up Lakin, our new 6-year-old cat. The cat rescue place told us Saturday that she had just had her shots and we …

Shelter Dog Adopts Assisted Living Facility

by John Carlisle Detroit Free Press BELLAIRE, Mich. − He’d had enough of being at the animal shelter, so Scout the dog climbed over one tall fence and then another, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto …

Café Owner To Pay Fine For Discrimination

by Lisa Steacy CTV News    The owner of a B.C. café has been ordered to pay a woman, who is legally blind, $12,000 in compensation for discrimination after she was refused service because she had a guide dog.     The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled on the case last week and the decision was …

It’s All About The Cats At A Cat Café

by Kevin Burton    This is a fun story, filled with cute kitties, but with a serious bummer at the end.    On the first part of our June vacation, we came across Papa’s Cat Café in Columbia, Missouri.  It was easily the most interesting tourist attraction we read about it mid-Missouri.    I thought …

Cows And Chickens’ Idiomatic Homecoming

by Kevin Burton     American farm country has fed the world and supplied it with a number of mud-caked idioms, as we have seen with the help of Merriam-Webster.    Today we bring it all home with our third and final installment of Barnyard Idioms.    We start with an idiom touching on my job …

Flying Pigs And Uncounted Chickens

by Kevin Burton    I seem to remember on The Beverly Hillbillies, one or more of the Clampetts describing someone as “muley” to mean they were exceptionally stubborn.    Now I see that Merriam-Webster, the dictionary supplying us with idioms from farm country, defines muley as “hornless.”     Stay tuned for our second helping of …

Idioms Straight From The Horse’s Mouth

by Kevin Burton    Today I am owning my farm-country standing and taking a look at some phrases we have exported to the rest of the country.    Merriam-Webster calls them “barnyard idioms.” I don’t love that name but I must admit some of these phrases are more than a little muddy.    From Kansas …

Dogs In Alaska Being Killed With Meth

by Kevin Burton    Three dogs have died so far, as someone in Palmer, Alaska is poisoning dogs with methamphetamines.    Katie Stavick of the Frontiersman newspaper, posted a story on it April 5.    “Dogs have many titles-man’s best friend, loyal and trusted companion, and beloved member of the family. That’s what makes a …

A Little Good News Goes A Long Way

by Kevin Burton    Have you had enough of the shouters and the doubters, the doom and the gloom?  How about a little good news?    The Apostle Paul encouraged people to focus on things that are true, honest, just and pure. “If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on …

Welcome (Not Welcome!) To Kevin’s Ark

by Kevin Burton    Our home Bible study has left Genesis for now and gone to Esther. But before we get too far from Noah and the ark, a few more stray thoughts.    Or should I say “astray thoughts?” Thoughts that show I have gone astray, at least in the moment.    I wrote …