If you’re like me, and I hope you’re not when it comes to shopping for some things like ointment, you don’t read the fine print. Like too many men, I know ointment is ointment. I know Vaseline, Bag Balm, Suave, etc. They all do the same thing. I know that for a fact. And, all […]
It was only 60 years ago, but the fall of every year I recall high school football playing days. I’ve only written about this experience twice, so it’ll be new to most. The size of teams may have changed, but the ‘win at all costs? attitude hasn’t. I was a starter for my three years […]
I’ve been writing Jottings for over 50 years. That means 50 Thanksgivings I could have written about. But as I looked back to see if there was one I could repeat for this Thanksgiving, I found none. This year as I thought about writing this holiday column my mind went quickly to my wife, Hazel. […]
We who have retreats up north are always concerned that vermits of some kind will make their way into our units. We always vacuum before leaving, not for dirt, (we’re not dirty) but for crumbs, things that ants might live on while we’re gone. We’ve caged the chimney top to eliminate that entry, and our […]
Entering one of the military services, taking tests for employment or completing sixth grade tests are supposedly ways for higher-ups to judge and assign their people. I remember my older brother, who earned his livelihood selling men’s clothing before going into the Navy, and being sent to the engine room (black gang, they were called […]
I don’t do e-mails or internet, but that doesn’t eliminate exposure. Friends who deliver such epistles to me know my humor, likes and dislikes. Thus; a forward from Karbginsky and Hiatt. Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica – where do they go? Wonder no more! It […]
As a way of proving to myself that I’m no longer relevant, that I’m terribly uninformed in certain areas and would be lost in conversations with theater-goers, I read the entire list of Oscar nominees. I recognized none of the movie titles, though I probably should have picked up on publicity for ‘No Country for […]
So, I’m thinking: What can I write for this Christmas season that I haven’t covered before? And, why is Santa fat? Thin people can be jolly. If you were looking for a Santa history you’d probably go on the internet. I went to my World Book Encyclopedia, circa 1960. It starts, ‘Santa Claus is a […]
When we first started this Jim’s Jottings holiday tradition, the two grandchildren Dan and Karen Offer (Karen is holding the pooch named Relish and Big Dan is next to her) were small enough to fit on my knees. It was 1988. Dan was 3 years old and Karen was four months old. In that first […]
We open presents so fast on Christmas we seldom look to see who the presenter is. That’s why I don’t know who gave me the book, ‘Nature Calls: The history, Love and Charm of Outhouses.? What a great remembrance gift for those of us who made that daily trip through rain and snow and dark […]