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EMPTY NEST

Caden Hinkle did it again—he created another yard sculpture out of RR ties. The first one was a raised-garden bed. I had him notch the ties so they fit together like Lincoln Logs. Snazzy. Ginnie and I had the most fun with that raised garden, more fun than with any of the other “normal” gardens we've had. Heck, we're still picking ripe tomatoes, and it's the first of November! The raised garden is right outside our kitchen door. How handy. There were a few RR ties left over from the raised-garden project, and I started thinking (which can get me in trouble). I texted Caden and ...

In politics, the witty disarm the nitwits

An especially repellant political race is about to fade from the headlines. It would have been less ugly had more politicians traded invective for wit. Humor can take the edge off while retaining the bite. "Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand," Mark Twain said. Clever retorts ...

A wipeout for Republicans

In 2010, President Obama described those midterm elections as a "shellacking" for Democrats, who lost 60 seats in the House. Then, as now, the economy was the top issue. If Republicans could have had a worse night, I don't know what it would be. From Maine to Michigan to Texas, Republicans ...

Democrats won, and more importantly, democracy won

Stop the talk about a triumphal arch at the gates of Arlington Cemetery. Stop bullying the Kennedy Center into putting the Trump name on its front. Stop obsessing over the Reflecting Pool. Stop cutting down trees at a public golf course in Washington to make a championship course. These ...

On Martha-Ellen Tye

I grew up as a child with a dad who was serving in the Air Force. I attended eight different schools in places ranging from Germany to Nebraska to California with a few others to boot, just to graduate high school. The most permanent home I knew was Marshalltown, where my grandparents, ...

Dirty tricks: Nothing new

The uproar over the Dan Sullivans stunt in Alaska is this year's most famous political dirty trick. The Department of Justice announced last Friday it is conducting civil and criminal investigations that include possible conspiracy to dupe Alaska voters because of two Senate candidates who ...