Opinion

It is a fact that as the human body ages, noticeable changes take place on those parts that are visible, as accumulated years show on our bones and skin and teeth and hair. We who are over and above three score years are fully...

When I was a very young man, I rode around with my dad as he went from field to field down in Santa Maria. It was just about my favorite thing to do. My dad was the foreman of a company that grew flowers...

Readers will recall last week’s column left off with my first solo truck run to the other valley to gather grape rootings for transplant here on the Oasis Road development we now know as San Bernabe Vineyard. Before we head over the hills, though,...

“It’s OK for the young people,” she said. “They have all the time in the world. Us oldies don’t have a year to waste sitting around the house and waiting to start up life again…” Initially I felt sad for this older lady and...

I don’t believe I am alone in thinking the last two Funny Papers Again columns were just not necessary. While like most citizens, I have personal positions regarding the present political atmosphere in America, but that does not mean I should use space in...

The definition of the word “volunteer,” according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is a person who does a job without being paid for it. That’s pretty straightforward, but in my opinion it falls a bit short of the mark; if one takes the...

Growing up in Greenfield in the late 1950s through the ’60s and beyond, we (“we” meaning those whose parents, grandparents and beyond spoke English) were introduced to foreign languages and English with idioms and accents previously unknown to us. I doubt I’m alone of...

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is an old adage most of us have heard with full understanding of its meaning. It only makes sense, providing one has any sense, to refrain from damaging that which makes survival possible. Now, after reading the...

To the Editor: We much enjoyed Steve Wilson’s column about gangsters he has known — or at least, thought about (“Words From One Bad Guy to Another,” June 29). It’s exciting to review the daring exploits of these cunning reprobates and satisfying when the sheriff...

We’ll get to the title of this week’s column, kinda, but first I offer up mention of a television program both to conjure a memory in the likeminded and to inform a younger readership; if one exists. When I was a kid laying on a...