Straight From The Hart

The hickory tree stands tall in the yard A harbinger of the season to come Dispensing nuts as the wind picks up;a change in weather so abrupt; These are the sights and sounds of autumn The first tryma rolled down the length of the roof But they’ve been littering the roads for days They crack under the wheels causing car brakes to squeal The sights and the sounds of autumn. A chill in the breeze says it won’t be long now Old winter will be here too soon But there are still pleasant days for the sun’s warming rays And the sights and the sounds of autumn Leaves drifting on the wings of the wind as they play A kaleidoscope of nature’s own making Rusty mauve, glittery gold, Red and orange bright and bold These are the sights and sounds of autumn. Smoke rising in the air from bonfires here and there Hotdogs impaled on sticks, embers glowing Crisp and crunch as you bite, In the day’s waning light Mo

My column from Lebanon newspaper 10/19/16: On April 10, 2015, a cocktail party for “leading news figures and top-level Clinton staff” was held at the Upper East Side home of  Joel Benenson in New York City.  Benenson is the chief strategist for the  Hillary Clinton campaign.    It was also described as a “fully off the record” gathering designed to set out Clinton’s campaign message shortly before her official announcement on April 12 to run for the presidency. Those reporters who responded to the invitation that they would attend included Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos from ABC, Mark Halperin and John Heillman from Bloomberg, Rachel Maddow from MSNBC,  Savannah Guthrie from NBC,  Maggie Haberman from the New York Times,  and others whose names may not be as familiar to you  from CBS, CNN,  Daily Beast, Huffington Post, the New Yorker, PEOPLE magazine, Politico, VICE and VOX. Food and drinks were provided by the campaign to the journalists covering this meeting o