vanishinginamerica

I've always thought automatic transmissions were for wimps, but that's me driving the Dodge Dakota with an automatic tranny. Not because I can't tell the difference between a gas pedal and a clutch, but because makers of trucks -- both foreign and domestic -- have given up on the notion of...

Amid ever-increasing evidence of the cancer risk involved with grilling and the slow expansion of laws regulating the use of outdoor cookers, it seems like charcoal is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. However, before we bid farewell to one of America's signature culinary experiences, it might...

In 1900, 34.5% of Americans were under 15 years of age; in 1960, 31.1%. Today only 21.4% fall into this group. This is only one reason why it's all but impossible to find a youngster to mow your yard or shovel your walk. At one time, going door to door with a snow shovel or a willingness to do...

I didn't expect to be crying reading a food book, but there I was, reading Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon's book on local eating, Plenty. I was reading of the times that inspired the book's title, in the 18th, 19th and turn of the 20th centuries. The authors wrote touchingly of the Salish Sea...

Back in the days before playgrounds, dog parks, and play dates, city kids played in a space unmatched for variety, challenge and mystery -- the alley. When city blocks were bisected by these primitive roads giving access to back yards, garages, gardens, burn cans and trash, we lived in anticipation...

There was a time when parochial schools seemed almost omnipresent, when the daily migration of kids in plaid clothes seemed to fill every street. However, with enrollments plummeting and one school after another closing its doors, the torrent of Catholic school kids has become a trickle, and it...

KaChing - It's a synonym for making money. The sound of the cash register ringing up a sale. Lots of people still say it, but some of them don't know its origins because they have never heard the real thing. I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, home of National Cash Register, a company whose brand was...