Straight From The Hart

I remember the first newspaper I ever read. I was in the first grade and just learning to read and I picked up a newspaper somewhere in our home to try to learn to read better. The article contained the word "can't" and I was totally stumped. I hadn't seen that one in the Dick & Jane book at school. I took it to my grandmother who told me what it meant and that it was a contraction as she used my question as a teachable moment. From that moment on, I was hooked on newspapers and newspaper clippings and it is an addiction which continues to this day. If you don't believe me, just come visit me sometime. There are newspapers in every room, on every table, under the bed and you would probably have to move one or several to find a chair to sit in. I got to the point where I let them stack up, threw a tablecloth over them and used them as a lamp table. I can't bear to throw them away until I have read them and obviously I will never get that done. I ha...

Dr. Jeff Brown is a Harvard graduate, a well known author and psychologist, and an acknowledged expert on the human brain. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a champion of cognitive-behavioral psychology. He is board-certified in both clinical and cognitive-behavioral psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Jeff is also the psychologist for the Boston Marathon medical team and is on Runner’s World magazine’s scientific advisory board. He was present on that fateful day in April 2013 when the bombs went off at the marathon, and was able to render invaluable service and attention to the victims and their families. I turned to the chapter in his book dealing with memory and re-read it in order to share some of his thoughts with you. My favorite line from the book is “Some memories are embedded in your brain like rocks while others fade like watercolors.” I’m sure all of you have noticed this as ...

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...

  SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF AUTUMN By Joan Rowden Hart, Oct. 17, 2016 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 the weather so abrupt These are the sights and sounds of autumn The first tryma just 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 evenings waning light More sights and sou...

  ARE YOU REALLY WHAT YOU EAT? September is National Food Safety Month. It was created in 1994 to heighten the awareness about the importance of food safety education. But since 1994, the issue of our food safety has been expanded to include much more than handling, preparation and storage. Now we find that politics has been introduced into the equation with Congress having to write legislation and provide regulations, especially with regard to how our food is labeled and shipped before it ever reaches the supermarket and ultimately our table. As recently as January of this year, CNN had an article on their website about the issue of foreign food imports which have exploded in recent years. Accoring to the USDA, those imports totalled $119 billion in 2014 which is the most recent information we have. While the U.S. has had several instances of food grown or processed domestically becoming contaminated with ecoli, or listeria or a host of other dangerous bacteria, even more tro...

  In the final moments of the horrible tragedy on September 11, 2001, the North Tower began to collapse. As it fell, it sent debris and wreckage through the air toward a plot of land at the border of Ground Zero. It was unlike the other properties surrounding Ground Zero in that it wasn’t covered with concrete, steel or asphalt, but with soil and grass. The falling debris struck a tree and in the days that followed, as they began to clear the wreckage, workers noticed the fallen tree - a sycamore. Entwined in its roots was a brick. The tree became one of the focal points of interest and attention, and was transformed into a symbol by all who saw it. Eventually, the tree was taken from the place of its fall and put on public display as a symbol of what had happened that day the towers fell. Its root system was carefully removed and transferred to another site. A bronze sculpture by Steve Tobin called The Trinity Root was installed September 2005 in the south courtyard of Trin...

  The baby panda born a week ago in the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. died on Monday of this week, and the entire nation seems to be mourning its death. CBS called the news of the panda’s death “devastating”. Fox News reported that condolences were pouring in from all over the world. Also on Monday, approximately 3,288 human infants died in the United States, murdered in the very place where they should have been the most safe – their mother’s womb. Now don’t get me wrong. I love animals as much as anyone else, but where are our priorities? Every day over 3000 babies are aborted in our country. That comes out to one baby every 26 seconds, or nine every 4 minutes, or 137 an hour. Do the math. That is 1.2 million every year. So 54.5 million babies have been killed since the Roe v. Wade court decision in 1973. Those numbers are just the surgical and medical abortions, they do not include the chemical abortions done by abortifacients (drugs that induce or cause abortions)...