February Reflections & A Love Story

IN HONOR OF VALENTINE’S DAY Reflections on Grandma Walter I realized early this morning that today, February 15th, was my grandmother’s birthday.  Meta Marie Henne was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1897.  If she were a centennial woman, today would be her 129th birthday; she died at 80 in 1977.  In 1922, a few years after graduating from …

Carolina Moments: Watching, Reading, Eating

ON SCREEN: BIG CONTENDER FOR MULTIPLE OSCARS Marty Supreme In past years, the Chief Penguin and I have made it a goal to see as many of the Best Picture Oscar nominations as possible.  More recently, we’ve been slackers, but we might see a few of them between now and the March awards. We are fans …

Carolina Comments: Cuba & Local Culture

 REFLECTIONS Cuba in 2019 Seven years ago this week, the Chief Penguin and I were part of a small group educational and cultural trip to Cuba.  We were in Havana the bulk of the time with a trip one day to the Vinales Valley.  In the city, we experienced lunch at a private restaurant, one of the …

Carolina Comments: Cocooning in January

WINTER THOUGHTS Good morning.  Like much of the country, North Carolina is experiencing a winter weather event.  For some, it will be a really massive storm with inches and possibly feet of snow; for others, after a bit of snow, the real concern is freezing rain and ice.  We’ve had just over an inch of snow and are …