Entertaining

"From the Editor: We've tried to replicate parts of the CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention's presentation of their Drowning Prevention information but urge you to go to their pages in effort to gain a organized way to compile as much information as you can. Tam Martinides Gray, Editor '...Drowning is a serious public health problem. Drowning can happen in seconds and is often silent. It can lead to long-term disability. Drowning is preventable... The Lifesaving Society designates the third week in July (July 16-22, 2023) as National Drowning Prevention Week (NDPW) to focus community and media attention on the drowning problem and drowning prevention.'" more »

Rose Madeline Mula Writes: "I haven’t been inside a store for two years. I don’t miss any of them. Not a bit. I am delighted to have Instacart deliver my groceries — and Amazon everything else I could possibly want — to my door on demand, without having to navigate aisle after aisle searching for a mango, or that foot callus file I always wanted but could never find. It’s like having my own Aladdin’s lamp! Most of my neighbors in my condo building have mats at their doors that are truly welcoming. They say “So glad you’re here!” or “Welcome! Come in and cozy up!” Mine says “Oh, no! Not you again!” (I don’t mean it, of course; but I can never resist humor.)" more »

Ferida Wolff comments on Nature’s Jigsaw Puzzles: Recently, I was given a thousand-piece puzzle that showed lots of birds, which I also love. There were robins, cardinals, hummingbirds, bluejays, and sparrows all enjoying the field of wildflowers that was the puzzle’s background. So colorful. I sat down and got to work. The puzzle wasn’t easy. It took me lots of days to finish but while I was working on it, my backyard seemed to have its own bird puzzle."As our communities become more urbanized, the natural features around us tend to get pushed into the background and often go unnoticed. In “Ferida’s Backyard,” I look at the details of nature locally, from a neighborhood perspective, frequently from a backyard vantage point. It excites me to share what I see. An awareness of the natural connection can beautifully enhance our lives." more »

"Most sources describe Snap-dragon as a Christmas tradition, but (Mary) Blain suggests that in the United States it was played at Halloween, and Platt notes: The game was one particular to Halloween or Christmas or Twelfth Night; I will not specify which, because in the first place I do not know, and in the second place if I were to make a mistake I would be held up to ridicule and all my statements overthrown... There were several other traditions surrounding the game of snap-dragon. Mary F. Blain describes the belief that the person who snatches the most treats out of the brandy will meet their true love within a year." more »