By Jim Nichols Among the most fascinating parts of a human body are hands. Having a young child in the family allows watchers to see learning in action. At birth, the child just flails arms and hands around with no purpose or coordination. Very soon, however, probably in coordination with better ability to focus eyes and track objects, that same

By Jim Nichols The return address on the envelope read “National Funeral Directors Association” and it arrived at my home address in about 1983. It contained eight brief pamphlets concerning funerals including costs, related professional services, pre-arranging, what to say or not at a funeral, children at funerals — it was a veritable gold mine of information. The arrival of

By Jim Nichols I am interested in efficiency, as, perhaps, you are. It serves us well as functioning Americans at least if we have the resources. We are taught early in life at home and school to consider the options, make a plan, and conduct the plan. We were taught to be goal oriented. Admittedly, there were some more artistic

By Jim Nichols Birthday parties are activities that need no explanation. From days of our childhood, we have each been the honoree or participant in these events that feature presents, cakes, games, and general fun. Everybody seems to like birthday parties. As adults we still frequent these parties. Stepping back from the apparently universal fun of the childhood versions, however,

By Jim Nichols Approaching the time to change to a new calendar, there are expected events in the public scene. One is the onslaught of college football bowl games, of course; there are 43 scheduled so far, Google says. Another, more serious in my opinion, is the annual listing of public people who have died during the year. I find

By Jim Nichols Several years ago, I began writing an opinion piece on the Middle East, Israel, and Palestine. This was well before the current military, political, and religious catastrophe there. I worked hard gathering background information and history of the area. I had written most of the article before I realized that I did not know what I was

By Jim Nichols It is not a unique story. There were just too many people for everyone to sit at the same table for the holiday big meal. Someone had decided in an earlier year that there would be two tables—one for the adults, and one for the children. I was not consulted concerning this arrangement and I suspect no

By Jim Nichols Every episode started in the same way. The scene was a police squad room in the Hill Street Precinct. Assembled were the officers who apparently were preparing to leave for their shift. The sergeant was at the front of the room speaking to them and bringing them up to date on the most recent criminal activity in