Modern living tends to make us too busy to relax, and I’m not the first to tell you that’s not healthy. Humans of any age need to play and let those stress generated hormones that make the heart race and adrenaline flow get out of our system. To many this may involve some form of exercise through various sports, but another way is to just get outside and become more attuned to what's around you. It focuses you to live in the now, with no thought of past or future concerns. A connection with nature has been proven to be healthy and therapeutic, yet severely lacking these days, especially with kids. So let me encourage you to resolve in 2023 to get outside a little more, to be still a little more, and enjoy and learn more about this wonderful place we live in. Here are some possibilities

‘Twas a few days before Christmas, on a chilly evening, when a local family showed up at the Union County Farmers Market Pavilion like Santa Clause. They backed up their truck and dropped down the tail gate, revealing bags upon bags of toys, coats, bicycles, and more. For this generous family donated nearly $500 worth of goodies to children in the community who needed a delivery from Santa Clause.

Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may prove more effective than usual treatment in alleviating chronic low-back pain, according to a new study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Have you ever come across anything that made you feel like a child again? Was it at the fair or maybe a playground? For me, it’s the grocery store and Christmas stockings.
Did you furrow your eyebrows at that combination?

Back in the day, when we lived on the farm, if I wanted to prepare a Sunday chicken dinner, there was a lot of prep work to do. We only did this if we had company coming. We couldn’t go to Food City and select a package of chicken parts from the meat counter. Nope! Na! Na! No way! In fact, in those days the only chicken I might find at the meat market was a sorry looking whole chicken. Separately packaged breasts or drumsticks were far in the future. I prepped my own.

What can you do with the masa harina flour you see on the grocery shelf? I know mass farina flour is used to make tortillas, so that is what I do. It's different. Try it next time you need flour tortillas

By now you have no doubt heard the obligatory Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer song ten times on the radio or department store sound systems. The assumption is that because Rudolf is depicted with antlers that he’s a he, and that may be correct. But if you will allow me some natural history holiday fun, it’s possible that Rudolf is a her.

By Helina Bailey
Christmas is fast approaching. Stockings are hung and the lights are up. Many families have begun to fill up the space beneath their Christmas trees with all the gifts from their children’s lists for Santa...but some children in Union County won’t wake up to gifts on Christmas morning. For many, this has been a tough year. Some families in the community are facing food insecurities this holiday season and lacking the means to put gifts under the tree.

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody and you wondered if you two were speaking another language?
It was December 1982. I was so excited since it was my and Tim’s first Christmas together as a couple. When he picked me up one evening, his friend Steve was with him. Tim had to stop at a store. Running in, he left Steve and myself in the car.
Trying to start a conversation, I said, “Mom and I are going shopping for a tree stand tomorrow.”
“You are?” I heard the surprise in his voice. “Who’s it for?”

I never drink a glass of iced tea that I don’t think of my brother, Russell Stimer. He passed away over twenty years ago. Gone, but not forgotten. Russ died of throat cancer. A doctor had told him not to smoke cigarettes, but that small cigars were ok. Not true.