Dear Kids and Animal Lovers, Recently, on one of my morning walks, I saw a murder of crows in a tall, otherwise barren eucalyptus tree. The fifty plus large black birds were waiting for . . . um, coffee? Huh? A murder of crows? What’s that? That’s the collective name for a group of crows–one of…
Hello, Readers! Perhaps like me, you ran across this engaging op-ed by Ellen Jovin on page A11 in the Friday, August 12, 2022, edition of The L.A. Times. It’s available digitally and in print. Entitled “How Fighting Over Grammar Can Help Fix a Divided America,” it details Ms. Jovin’s goals to set up and run…
Dear Readers, Yesterday, August 10, 2022, was the 50th anniversary of my sweet paternal grandmother’s passing at the age of 88. Nellie “Gama” Lanyon Johns left us on August 10, 1972. I was lucky to have had her and my grandfather living with us while I was growing up. Gama (rhymes with “Mama”) was a…
Hello, Kids, Readers, and Current and Future Genealogists, Have you ever researched your Family Tree? I’ve been having fun this week climbing among the many branches of mine on a helpful site called FamilySearch.org. My friend Daniel put me onto this tremendous resource; thanks, Daniel! My father’s side of the family is firmly English and…
Hello, All Readers and Present or Future Herpetologists, Sneak Peek: In Book 4, Saffron Street: Island Danger, our four detectives travel to O’ahu to solve their latest case. Moki happily announces to Lanny that there are no “fangs of death,” i.e., snakes, on the Hawaiian Islands. Fearing reptiles as he does, Moki is pleased to…
Dear Kids and All Readers, Do you love graham crackers? I do! I have a fond childhood memory of the tasty snack beyond S’mores. Every Easter, my mom would make a yellow cake and slather on thick layers of homemade chocolate frosting. Any leftover frosting was sandwiched between two graham cracker halves for my sisters’…
Dear Kids, Readers, and Verbivores, Every morning, I find a lovely surprise in my email inbox. It’s from Word Genius, a company with a mission to teach people a new word daily. A recent word was flocculate. I had never heard of it. Do you know it? My first thought was that it had to…
Dear Readers, Current and Future Architects, and Fans of Ancient Egypt, Does Egypt call to you? If so, I think you’ll enjoy this . . . I have been a proud member of San Diego’s “Save Our Heritage Organisation” (SOHO), for many years. (Yes, that’s spelled with an “S,” not a “Z.”) SOHO does the important…
Dear Readers, Today, June 23, 2022, is the twenty-fifth anniversary of my father’s passing. I am especially missing him today. My dad, Donald Johns, was born and raised in North Dakota in a little farming town called Wing, near Bismarck. The northern winters aggravated his asthma so badly, he missed much school. So, in 1930,…
Dear Readers and Tea Drinkers, If you’re like me, you probably enjoy settling down with a good book and a hot cup of tea. So, when I ran across this eye-opening article yesterday entitled “Nine Reasons Why You Should Stop Throwing Away Used Tea Bags,” I just had to share it. (By Mary Tomlinson, June…
