On dynamite and peace

On dynamite and peace

When I was a youngster in the mid-1950s, we lived on a small farm that had a high rocky hill behind our house and pasture field. A mining company asked if they could drill some holes and then blow the rock up with dynamite to see if there were valuable metals down there. The day of the blast, they told my father to board up the windows of the house on the blast side in case of wayward flying rocks.

Away from it all

Away from it all

When a poll last year asked what people like least about Christmas and the holidays, fully one-third of Americans cited the commercialization of the season. Twenty-two percent said they dislike the heavy expenses associated with the holidays, and for 10 percent the holiday shopping and crowds were the part they dreaded.