Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton One day my mother received a letter. The people who owned the house she was renting were going to sell it, and she had 30 days to get out. It was ridiculous to expect her to move that quickly, and my brother successfully negotiated an additional six weeks. But we …
Continue reading “Make Time For Mom, You’ll Be Glad You Did”
by Ally Hirschlag BBC It was the sixth straight day of the heat index topping 100F (38C) in New Milford, Connecticut, when the sky turned a sickening shade of puce. I was leading an outdoor theatre workshop, and noticed campers gawking at an ominous, miles-long shelf cloud advancing overhead. Then a thunderclap shook …
Continue reading “Pleasures And Benefits Of Soaking In The Rain”
by Kevin Burton There was just one song that brought Dave Mason into my top-40-based musical awareness in the 70s, but that was enough to keep him there. Mason died April 19, and tributes began to pour in from people who knew him as I didn’t, as a co-founder of the British rock …
by Kevin Burton Fourteen years ago, give or take six days, I attended a wedding in Wichita. My own. Some of my friends thought I would never get married. So it may have been fitting that the heavens opened up on my wedding night. Jeannette and I exchanged vows at 3 p.m., …
Continue reading “Tornado Interrupts Wedding: Sounds Familiar!”
by Kevin Burton My most recent place of employment was a three-story church, which had, on the third floor, a gymnasium. I almost never went up there because my work was on the other two floors. But the whole time I worked there, there was a basketball on the floor, in the office, …
Continue reading “The Last Jump Shot Of A Confirmed Gym Rat”
by Kevin Burton The Burtons love a good farmer’s market. And the local weather has been conducive to attending the outdoor version. So this could happen pretty soon. Sign us up! A farmer’s market of course, is the much yummier first cousin of a garage sale. But what of a flea …
by Dictionary Scoop Social, economic, and technological changes, along with the emergence of new consumer habits, have led to the disappearance of certain jobs that were once popular and profitable. Here is a list of ten English words describing occupations and professions that are rare or have become obsolete: 1-Alewife Did you know that women …
Continue reading “A “Knocker-Upper” Isn’t What You Think It Is”
by Kevin Burton My assigned task was to write past-due notices to customers. Dry enough, but I had some fun with it. I was working as an office assistant at a photo lab in Columbus, Ohio. We were in the not-so-busy season, taking care of things that didn’t get done during the busy …
by Kevin Burton I’m trying to care. Honest to God, I’m trying. I am a football fan. And I am going to watch the Super Bowl. Somebody asked me the other day, “you going for Seattle or New England?” “I don’t care,” I said. And that is mostly true. I would …
Continue reading “Pumping Life Into Super Sunday Won’t be Easy”
by Kevin Burton Those color-coded national weather maps always showed the true snow calamity hitting other regions. We in Central Kansas were to be spared. But there were breathless local forecasts calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday. My “rule of half” said we would get about four. Sure enough, by …
Continue reading “The Weather Outside Was Cold, Not Frightful”
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