Opinions
Dear Savvy Senior,
How does Medicare cover preventive health screenings? I’m due to get a physical and a colonoscopy this year, but I want to find out what I’ll have to pay for before I go in.
Just Turned 65
Dear Just Turned,
You’ll be happy to know that Medicare covers a wide array of...
Digging around in the “cookbook crypt” again, I came across this 1976 church fundraiser book crammed full of recipes titled The First United Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, Iowa. The book was published by the church in honor of their 135th year of service to the community. It was self-published...
Dear Savvy Senior,
What can you tell me about green funeral options? At age 80, I would like to preplan my funeral and make it as natural as possible.
Old Environmentalist
Dear Environmentalist,
Great question! Green funeral options are becoming increasingly popular in the United States as more...
People hate math until
they get a receipt
Echoes from the
Loafers’ Club Meeting
I didn’t catch a single fish on my trip to
Ontario.
How come?
I couldn’t tell a single one from a married fish.
Driving by Bruce’s drive
I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive,...
In Iowa newspaper lore, it’s the headline that had to happen at some point. In 2007, Mason City Globe Gazette columnist Richard Johnson tried to find it and came up empty. He wrote, “like all good mysteries, [it] remains shrouded in the mists of time.”
However, through modern research methods, the...
I have no idea who Miriam Hershberger is but her name is on the flyleaf of a community cookbook that she apparently helped produce. Ms. Hershberger thanks friends who belonged to a “round robin” pen pal group that must have exchanged recipes from all over the United States. “Homestyle Cooking...
Sniffing the south end of a porcupine
Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting
I’m glad it’s summer and not winter.
Do you like hot, muggy weather?
No, but think how terrible it would be to shovel snow in this heat.
Driving by Bruce’s drive
I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass...
Dear Savvy Senior,
Is regular heartburn or acid reflux anything to worry about? I eat a lot of Rolaids throughout the day to help manage it, but it’s gotten worse with age and it keeps me up at night too. What can you tell me?
Belching Bob
Dear Bob,
Almost everyone experiences heartburn or acid...
I’m having a lot of fun poking around in the Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks series from back in the day. “Easy Weeknight Meals” (1997, The Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis) is one of their large series of cookbookets. This one fills the bill for summer evenings when no one wants to spend time putting...
Deer Editor,
In April the Northwood City Council proposed an ordinance prohibiting the planting of trees in all right of ways that the City manages (typically the area between the sidewalk and the road).
At the last city council meeting, during the public comment, I proposed making an exception...