The Rooney Bin

For a relatively short month, February has quite a few holidays, beginning with Feb. 2, Groundhog Day. Florida winters are generally mild, so the celebration lacks the impact of the Groundhog Day parties that take place up north. For example, in western Pennsylvania thousands of people gather to watch groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerge from ... Read More

“Gray hair is a crown of life.”—author Lailah Gifty Akita Much to my surprise, I recently became a trend setter. A couple of months ago I made a decision to go au naturel…hair-wise, so to speak. It happened because I missed a color and cut during Hurricane Dorian and as an inch of white grew ... Read More

“The more things change the more they stay the same.”—proverb Fast cars, women’s rights, communication innovations, concerns about the environment are all Twenties issues—the Roaring Twenties that is. Ironically, they also are among social and political issues U.S. citizens share a century later. As we enter a new decade, it is interesting to look back to ... Read More

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…Shouts of “Happy New Year!” will soon usher in a new decade. Watching fireworks explode when the crystal ball drops at Times Square is a famous New Year’s Eve tradition in America. New Year’s Eve customs vary from country to country, but many are based ... Read More

“Shopping is a woman thing,” humor writer Erma Bombeck wrote. “It’s a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase.”             My how the shopping game has changed since Bombeck made that witty observation. Women still enjoy shopping, but ... Read More

A green llizard took a ride on an Alleghany locomotive on the Binmeisters model train layout. Leaping lizards! The holidays are upon us, and it’s time to bring in the Christmas greenery along with the occasional lizard.  I raise the issue because it came up on the ever popular Nextdoor discussion group on ... Read More

A cold front moved in last week, a welcome harbinger of fall and Turkey Day. Many Americans envision turkey as Thursday’s delicious main course, but flocks of wild turkeys are causing a lot of indigestion for residents in the Holiday City section of Toms River, NJ. Gangs of 25 or more wild turkeys have been ... Read More

“I’m going to live until I die, and everything in between is just another excuse to eat peanut butter.”—actor/comedian Dana Gould November is the time of year when holidays and leftovers converge. First one has to get rid of the leftover pumpkin and Halloween candy to make room for the soon to be leftover Thanksgiving turkey ... Read More

Last week thousands lined up along Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues in Washington D.C., to cheer a parade celebrating the Nationals’ World Series victory, a first for that city since the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants in 1924.  Everyone loves a parade, the excitement, colors, music, costumes, cheering and significance of the occasion. St. Patrick’s ... Read More

“Yes, we have no bananas. We have-a no bananas today.” We had some a week ago, but they weren’t ripe. Then just as they turned from green to yellow some critter beat me to the harvesting punch and stripped most of a large hand of bananas off the Bin plant. Are there monkeys in ... Read More