Home / Opinions

Opinions

Here comes the next round...for the second afternoon in a row, strong thunderstorms swept through the Union County on Monday. Strong storms also happened Sunday afternoon. The storms were accompanied by strong winds, lightning, thunder and very heavy rain. Power outages were reported on both days in parts of the county. The photograph was taken Monday afternoon in Anna.

'If outdoors...consider seeking shelter...'

Once again...so many things to ponder...and so little time... First up...a message to drivers from an Old Guy who gets Grumpy about such things: PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN. PUT BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL. That is all...  Meanwhile... ...let’s ponder a couple of numbers... 81...81...we’ll come back to them in...
Divine precipitation? Please read on for the “rest of the story”...

Spending special time together...in a deluge

...which involves some very special time The Other Half and yours truly spent together in Anna on the second Wednesday of May. We’ll call this very special time a Rainy Day Date. Or, perhaps more correctly, a A Torrential Downpour of Potentially Apocalyptic Proportions Date. Maybe not... I had...
Tiny drops of moisture were strung along a spider web which had been woven one day last week on our front porch. One can only hope that the arachnid which created this masterpiece really, really, really likes mosquitoes...for breakfast...for lunch...for dinner...for midnight snack...

'Mea culpa'...is the best we can come up with...

Maybe it was just inevitable... Bob and I were sitting on the porch swing Monday evening in the still and sultry air of a May evening in Southern Illinois. Off to the west, the last light of the day was fading away...along the horizon was a line of grayish blue clouds...perhaps offering a hint of a...
We had so much fun with our critter collage last week that we decided to try another one...the goose (and goslings), the bluebird and the hawk were spotted during various meanderings in our little corner of the world. When I looked closely at the goose, the feathered critter appear to have a smile on its beak. Really.

Kitty's curiosity leads to big adventure...

So much time...so much space...so little to write about... Yes, folks, we’re keeping with a theme which began a couple of weeks ago. Trouble is, my brain was a wee bit foggy early this week. I’m thinking it was the pollen and various other wonderful things that were floating around in the soupy...
At about the time this photograph was taken, a person with a little more sense would have been indoors...where it might have been fairly safe. Instead, shortly after a tornado warning siren had sounded, a downpour began in our neighborhood. So, of course, I had to go outside to take a picture...

It was a dark and stormy night...and some other stuff

Good grief...it was the 21st day of April and we’re looking at a frost advisory... Meanwhile... Once again this week...so many things to ponder...and so little time and space... It was a dark and stormy night...really...it was... Last Thursday night, The Other Half and yours truly were watching all...
You couldn’t really tell (well, I couldn’t), but a lunar eclipse was underway when this photograph was taken late, late Sunday night...or maybe it was early, early Sunday morning. I wasn’t paying close attention to the exact time...

Mother Nature offers helping hand this week...

The conditions on Monday were just right for doing something I had not done in a while. With the wind gusting up to around 50 miles per hour Monday afternoon, it seemed to make sense to toss some letters up into the air and see where they landed. It worked. Thank you, Mother Nature, for helping me...
Oh, deer... One day last week, I was motoring through metropolitan Anna and happened to spot this “critter” along a city street. I drove on for a block, turned around, went back to have another look. I’m guessing there’s a story...

How to save some time on doing the dishes...

Oh, deer... One day last week, I was motoring through metropolitan Anna and happened to spot this “critter” along a city street. I drove on for a block, turned around, went back to have another look. I’m guessing there’s a story... Meanwhile... The Other Half and yours truly were doing our best...
Perfect timing...perfect pose...The Other Half and yours truly saw a bald eagle which was perched high in a tree along Illinois Route 146 near the Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area.

Once again...a little bit of this...a little bit of that...

How can it be December already? This week, once again, bear with me as we take a look at a little bit of this...and a little bit of that... We’ll start with many, many apologies to the spirit of John Lennon... ...and so this is Christmas... ...and you can tell that it’s “officially” Christmas when...

Book It To The Library

Time for a Movie... This cooler weather has reminded me that winter is just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things to do is curl up on the couch under a blanket and watch movies.  Stinson Library has a huge collection of DVD’s you can check out for seven days....
This an “authentic” photograph of a squirrel. The real deal. The photograph is not a deepfake. Just ask the squirrel. He (she?) lives in the neighborhood. Really.

An authentic column...and the Word of the Year

Don’t know about you...but this “old guy” was not ready for temperatures to be in the 20s... The winter-like cold in late November, accompanied by a nice, clear sky, meant that I had to start the first day of a new “work” week by making a rather significant layer of frost on my vehicle go away....

Pages

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

Sign Up For Breaking News

Stay informed on our latest news!

Site Design, Programming & Development by Surf New Media