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DEAR ANNIE: Sorting through memories stored in objects

Lifestyles

DEAR ANNIE: I recently cleaned out my mother’s house after she moved into assisted living, and I thought the hardest part would be the boxes. I was wrong. The hardest part was realizing that every drawer held a memory, and every memory came with a decision. There were birthday cards she had saved from 1987, chipped coffee mugs from family vacations, old school projects, costume jewelry, recipes written in her handwriting and enough plastic containers to open a small deli. In the hall closet, I found my father’s old raincoat, still smelling faintly like him, even though he has been ...

Meet the opossum

Lifestyles

With gray, coarse fur, a scaly tail and long snout with a pink nose, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is one of our more interesting mammals. According to Cornell University, early descriptions from Capt. John Smith in 1608 refer to it as “An Opassom hath an head like a Swine, and a tailee ...

TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Cough makes patient consider COPD

Lifestyles

DEAR DR ROACH: I decided to practice using an inhalation spirometer, partly because I have a daily productive cough (small amounts three to four times a day). I smoked a pack of filtered cigarettes a day from ages 17-29. I smoke marijuana now. My scoliosis is quite complex and has taken over 4 inches off my height. But at age 75, I volunteer as a stable hand for 6-8 hours a week, and they say that I’m the hardest working volunteer! I’m lean and fit. I do three inhalation tests in a row, and it’s always 2,400 mL. Do I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and should ...

Celebrate those crazy, hazy, zany days of June

Burton Cole column

Ah, June. School’s out, picnics are in and it’s Turkey Lovers Month. What could be better? Unless you’re a turkey and the lovers turn out to love a good turkey sandwich. Roll out those crazy, hazy, zany days of summer. Besides turkeys, June also marks Fight the Filthy Fly Month and Potty Training Awareness Month. It’s also World Naked Bike Ride Month, but just in the Northern Hemisphere. Yeah, I don’t think my naked southern hemisphere would appreciate bicycle seats I have known. June also boasts Carpenter Ant Awareness Week (I believe it’s when you house falls ...

The 7 p.m. identity crisis that comes with the season

Lisa Resnick Column

I’ve realized something about myself. I am, unapologetically, a 7 p.m. girl in a 9 p.m. world. In the winter, this works in my favor. The sun clocks out at 5 p.m., and suddenly my entire personality feels validated. Dinner? Done. Shower? Taken. Comfy clothes? On. By 7 p.m., I’m curled up on my couch in what I lovingly refer to as my “for my household eyes only” attire — reading, answering emails, maybe watching something that requires very little emotional commitment — and it all feels… right. Natural. Seasonal. Even responsible. But now? Now it’s 7 p.m., the sun ...