Inner Nature: The incredibly resilient tardigrade
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
In the annals of the ecosystem’s version of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is a long list of organisms that are considered over-performers: tough, enduring and even thriving in environmentally adverse conditions. Most endure in state known as cryptobiosis (also called anabiosis), which means “mysterious or enigmatic” and refers to the difficulty in telling...
ReFire at any age: A time for renewal
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Renewal comes in many forms. That’s what the start of a new year is. That’s what each birthday is. Think of winter, when everything goes dormant, waiting for the renewal of spring.
They are all forms of renewal and signify a rebirth.
As we “turn the page” to a new year, our minds may give thought to a fresh start. My mind always does, every...
Inner Nature: Palynology
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
Palynology is the study of tiny particles such as pollen, spores, dust and soil particles, microfossils, and other miniature items that are carried as inclusions in macro items such as rock layers, soil on a shoe, paint on a wall, and foodstuffs such as honey. The presence of pollen in honey provides a clue to the flowers from which bees obtain nectar, and is...
Healthcare: the battle for survival
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
As the end of a very unusual year comes to a close I have been looking at what changes this has brought to the small business community. Like many independent dental practices I am a small businesswoman. My industry is a bit different however than many other small businesses, in that we have no mechanism to raise our fees when the costs...
ReFire at any age: It’s that time of year…..
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
How would you finish that phrase?
The song finishes that phrase with, “when the world falls in love”. That doesn’t necessarily mean to fall in love romantically. I think it means falling in love with life.
I would tweak that phrase a bit by saying; it’s that time of year for spreading love, joy and cheer.
The excitement of the holiday season is...
Inner Nature: Bloody Colors
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
I got some nice feedback from people who enjoyed my previous article on the similarities between eggs and seeds –two apparently disparate things which have the same function. This month, to celebrate the season of leaf color changes and the season of Halloween (or Hallowe’en), I am going to compare fall leaf colors and the colors of blood. Yes, colors of...
Don’t retire, ReFire: Living in gratitude
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Thanksgiving is the holiday in November that just about everybody celebrates, and with that, thoughts and sentiments of gratitude start to surface because after all, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about, giving thanks.
Beginning on the first of November, posts start popping up on several different social media platforms with people sharing what they...
Inner Nature: Eggs and Seeds
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
I was working in my garden, doing the regular maintenance tasks of weeding and planning my fall plantings. I was planning on gathering seeds from some of my favorite flowers to replant. As I worked, I’d disturb a rock or something (a military joke) and find a germinating weed seed, or a cluster of ants eggs. They were everywhere. Seeds and eggs. Then it struck...
Don’t retire, ReFire: A hop, skip and a slide into the next year!
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
It’s hard to believe that we are in the last quarter of the year. It feels like just yesterday we entered 2021.
In the beginning of the year, there was hope, with the introduction of the vaccine, that we’d be on the other side of the pandemic by now. Regrettably, that is not what has transpired. Many of us were starting to make plans to gather and...
Don’t retire, ReFire: Making peace in our world
By Gail Suplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Does this sound like a tall order to you? It shouldn’t be a tall order but alas, it is.
For centuries we’ve fought for peace and in the fighting, many casualties occurred and still do, to this day. Many songs have been written and many prayers have been prayed for the hope of peace.
Is it possible to make peace in a world so divided and with so many...
