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An Episode in Local Garden History from the Everlasting Age of Aquarius

Who said we have no sense of history around here? I mean, we love to retell the old stories of anarchists, contraception pioneers, free love, and —gasp — nude bathing in Home Colony … more

Dan Clouse | 9/27/23

Concentrated Wit, or the World in a Sentence

If, as the Bard informs, brevity is the soul of wit, what could be wittier than a one-liner? President Calvin Coolidge was a typically taciturn Vermonter. Not for “Silent Cal” the … more

Dan Clouse | 8/30/23

Make Your August Pesto For Life, Love and All Things Good

It’s August, and the blackberries are ripe. That pie in the oven is distracting you from the monthly newspaper. Gardens are ascending to the peak of their harvest season, and there are fresh … more

Dan Clouse | 8/2/23

Compound It!

Riddle me this: What do iceboxes, typewriters and videotapes have in common? Outdated technology, right? … more

Dan Clouse | 5/31/23

The Joy of Lists

I am not quite old enough to remember the assassination of Lincoln, but I do remember hearing Hank Snow’s 1962 hit “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” on AM radio. If you are a youngster, that’s … more

Dan Clouse | 3/1/23

Two Greek Paradoxes

The Temptations’ Motown classics, “My Girl,” “Get Ready” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” were music highlights of my high school years. The songs … more

Dan Clouse | 10/27/22

Not Nothing

Not to be hypersensitive, but I can’t help but wince when someone says, “no offense, but …,” and then goes straight into an insult.Just as “not to bore you with the … more

Dan Clouse | 7/27/22

Procrastination, Pencils and Plumbago

The procrastinator’s spirit animal is the crow. Back in fourth century Armenia, as the story goes, a wicked crow looked up and wheedled a Roman centurion named Expeditus into putting off … more

Dan Clouse | 4/26/22

The Truth About ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ Corned Beef and Cabbage

When you think of Saint Patrick’s Day, you’re thinking shamrocks, right? Along with pinching, funny little green plastic hats, the beer in your cup and the Chicago River, both dyed green, … more

Dan Clouse | 2/28/22

Fear of Missing Out

Mark Zuckerberg was in first grade when a business school professor coined the expression “fear of missing out” 30 years ago. The researcher noticed how people struggle to choose when … more

Dan Clouse | 12/30/21

Moonshine Reflections

The night sky above the Key Peninsula isn’t always clear. We enjoy about 140 nights a year that are partly cloudy or better. The rest remind us that the KP isn’t West Texas and you … more

Dan Clouse | 9/1/21

De Gustibus for the Rest of Us

“There’s no accounting for taste” the saying goes. You could annoy someone with the Latin version, “de gustibus non disputandum est” (“In matters of taste, there … more

Dan Clouse | 5/26/21

Dirty Work at the Roundabout

One summer afternoon my friend Stony and I were leaning against an old boom log in the oyster shell gravel, squinting out at the water, when out of the blue he said, “When you’re at a … more

Dan Clouse | 3/31/21

By Any Other Name

Too bad there isn’t a superlative form for “unique.” If the grammar police let me say “unique-est,” I’d wear it out describing the KP. From above, the Key … more

Dan Clouse | 12/30/20

The Chinook Jargon Pocket Dictionary

When you look up a word in the dictionary, do you end up spending half an hour looking up 20 other words? Psychologists have a clinical term for this. You could look it up. more

Dan Clouse | 12/2/20