It’s not every day you see a real live brawl and have the opportunity to call 911 about it. In fact, never has this happened to me. I’ve never seen anyone punched in person and (happily) never …

AirDrop for Everyone, Only Better If you own an iPhone and a Mac, you already know the small joy of AirDrop. Tap, send, done. Then you try to send vacation photos from your iPhone to your …

Once every two weeks, I treat myself to something I once considered a total indulgence but am now convinced is a survival necessity. My pedicure. My toes seem to anticipate the pampering and know …

In September 2025, we took the trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica’s tropical rainforest and to surf one of the world’s best left-hand point breaks. We flew into San José, rented a car, and drove …

Is treating people right when they are vulnerable, and you could easily dupe them, an act of kindness? I think so. Patrick and Jeremy of Milt’s Heating and Air Conditioning would differ and say, …

A group of flamingoes is called a “flamboyance.” Among all the interesting names for groups of animals, this is my favorite. A flamboyance of flamingoes were sheltered in a zoo bathroom earlier …

Sometimes, things happen in my life that seem coincidental, but they happen far too often to be just chance. I know that I am an “open” person with a strong compulsion to connect various people …

There is a phrase most of us say every working day without a second thought: "my work computer." We talk about "my laptop," "my office email" and "my company phone." Employers reinforce it when they …

I spent a weekend in Clinton, New York. Why Clinton? Clinton is home to Hamilton College, where my granddaughter, Eleanor, attends. It was homecoming weekend, and two field hockey games were …

I spoke with Cheryl S. Munday, the Right Whale Festival coordinator. She shared a lot of great information and enthusiasm for the event , which takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, …

If you've lived in Fernandina for a while, you probably have heard of Take Stock in Children (TSIC). This celebrated organization is celebrating its 30th year as part of our community.

Sunday is the last day of this year's Banned Book Week. If you have not taken advantage of learning what this is about, you have one more opportunity this afternoon with an encore performance of “ …

It turns out I don’t need to travel to the Mayan Mountains in Belize to get a taste for Indigenous culture. St. George, Georgia, only 40 miles from here, is home to the Cherokee of Georgia Tribal …

Retirement gives us something we spent most of our working lives wishing for: time. Time to read, study history, finally understand investing, or explore photography, gardening, genealogy, or …

We knew it would come, but couldn’t wait. Comfortable temperatures have arrived. We grumbled through August, as we always do, impatient for cooler temperatures. Each August, we declare it was the …

The gopher tortoise provides shelter for so many. Its burrow provides a fire bunker for hundreds of organisms in their native habitat and has done so for millions of years. The gopher tortoise …

Since I was young, I have been taught that a small act of kindness can completely change someone’s day. A genuine smile, a kind word, or simply taking a moment to help someone can have a much …

I have been an avid reader since I experienced the joy of learning through reading in elementary school. I loved spending Saturdays on a trip to the library and then going home and diving into …

A week ago, I found myself winding through the mountains of western North Carolina on my way from Waynesville to Hot Springs. It wasn't a particularly fast drive. The road twisted and turned through …

It’s not every day that you see someone training a crocodile, not even for me. I’ve seen lots of animals being trained, what with my marriage to a marine mammal trainer, but I never expected to …