It is January and New Year’s resolutions are flying off the shelves — plans to lose dozens of pounds, join a gym, eat healthier.

The marathon race to purchase the perfect gift is in full swing. My inbox is overloaded with “holiday bargains.” The mailman drops off about a dozen catalogs a week. The conservationist in me says “stop the madness” as I think of the trees being decimated to interest me in buying one more th…

Alabamans have been busy observing the state’s bicentennial — 200 years since Alabama declared statehood — with parades, exhibits and programs. Over these two centuries, we have seen turmoil and we have seen calm, and we sing “Sweet Home Alabama.”

I can remember my groovy house in the early 1970s. Orange shag carpet, orange plaid curtains, orange striped chairs, orange wallpaper. I even had an orange suit.

Some years, summer never seems to leave; other years winter’s cold arrives during fall, and true fall becomes the overlooked middle child.

McClellan, once the site of Fort McClellan, is home to lush green spaces and thick forests. Where there were once tanks, guns and soldiers in uniform, there are now medical clinics, senior citizens’ homes, upscale neighborhoods and a gymnasium.