Columns

The benefits of presidential uncertainty

It could just be me, but 2025 is starting to look like 1980. If you’re old enough to remember back that far, my father was campaigning against Jimmy Carter and Iran was in the headlines. In November of 1979 Iranian students had seized the U.S.

Let’s return to comfort food

My favorite summer comfort food is the fried chicken and potato salad dinner my mother made throughout my childhood — one I’ve spent three years trying to reinvent. It turns out I’m not alone.

Suffering from a kitten shortage?

“Rescue me/ Ah, take me in your arms…” — as performed by Fontella Bass. As luck would have it, exactly two months after seven-year-old Moggie cat had to be euthanized (incurable tick-borne cytauxzoonosis), the Tyree family discovered three flea-ridden, emaciated kittens outside the church building.

Barking dogs, roaring lions brought onlookers

When Ambaugh’s Great Menagerie and Circus visited south Louisiana in 1878, newspaper ads promised that “you will see many strange animals never before on exhibition, and in the Circus many daring acts by the Best Performers ever congregated … in the history of American Amusements.

L.A. riots bring out another show of doublespeak from the left

I have watched with bemusement as some Democrats have excused, justified or otherwise supported the so-called “peaceful protests” in Los Angeles and elsewhere around the country.

From ‘Rocket Man’ to ruins: Between the skies of Tehran and Tel Aviv

“It’s a little bit funny… the feeling inside.” I found myself humming Elton John’s “Your Song” as I watched the first videos of Israeli jets bombing the homes of the Islamic Republic’s top generals. Honestly, like many Iranians in exile, I felt a flicker of joy.

Father’s Day: Why I still sleep with my window fans

I fell asleep every summer night to the wobbling sound of a window fan — and I still do. I grew up in a modest two-story home typical of the 1960s and 1970s — red brick on the bottom, white aluminum siding on the top.

Castex spied opportunity at river crossing

When Jean Castex started a small general store on the Mermentau River, the town that grew up around it was little more than a crossing point for brave travelers on the Old Spanish Trail.

That water cost how much???

“All day I’ve faced a barren waste/ Without the taste of water/ Cool but over-priced water…” — Apologies to the Sons of the Pioneers. According to the New York Times, “fine water” is starting to give fine wine a good stomping.

In defense of opposing drag queen story hour

From my earliest childhood, I attended the Mummer’s Parade in Philadelphia every New Year’s day, watching husky fellows with banjos, full-face makeup and glitter sashay down Broad Street. It’s a tradition that, while difficult to explain to out-of-towners, is near and dear to our Quaker City hearts.