Opinion

When you live beside a river — literally within spitting distance — and pay daily attention to nature and the riverine environs just beyond your doorstep, you get to know that particular stretch of stream landscape intimately.

“Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast. And they’d feast! And they’d feast! And they’d FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast beast.” — Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

On a recent early evening, as the sun sank below the horizon and day headed into night, my wife called to me from the living room.

Language, whether it be in spoken or written form, is indeed a gift. That was a message I tried to impart to the scores of young people who passed through my classroom doors from my first year in 1973 through my final year in education in 2005.

This is the store where I bought my shirt, my shorts, my socks, my shoes, that I’m wearing right now. This is the store where I got my cell phone. This is the store that the people help me check out when stuff doesn’t scan correctly and they type in the right serial number on the cat water fountain I bought last week. And this is the store where I get a refreshing drink at the Subway and they always have a kind word for me. This is the store where I bought my bananas and the girl working there was so green she didn’t know that green was green and ripe is yellow. This is the store where General Tso’s chicken is made fresh right there and the deli dude serves it with a smile. This is the store where the lady in the bakery always helped me find the cherry pie when I can’t see it right away. And never minds helping a not so young guy. This is the store that the two dudes in electronics are always helpful finding whatever gadget I need. And this is the store where people who are on break always help me find whatever I’m looking for including a cat water fountain.

I hope you won’t mind, but this week I thought I’d shift gears a bit and talk a little business. How many times have you entertained the idea of a nomadic life working in your pajamas, having more flexible hours, spending more time with family, and the promise of unlimited financial potential? Believe me, I get it. Unfortunately, all may not be as it seems.

I don’t think about it often, but I certainly do each November. That’s the month that has two dates divided by just four days, days that live in opposite polarities. The first date is the 11th, a day set aside to honor our veterans for the sacrifices they’ve made to safeguard our freedoms.

Everything you know about Thanksgiving is wrong. Well, maybe not everything, but a hell of a lot.

On a totally unrelated subject (OATUS)… Did you know pretty much everything written in English is created from just 26 letters, 16 punctuation marks, and 8 parts of speech (otherwise known as “word classes”)? Sure grammar, syntax, and other structural components play a role, but all of it begins with this relatively small set of base material.

When October rolls around, Calendar designers never lack for colorful seasonal images to illustrate their printed wares.