A few weeks ago, I wrote about how as a family we were trying to eat better and take better care of ourselves. I’ve also written several times about trying to shop local and patronize American products because it makes sense.

So, imagine my surprise when my wife brought it to my attention that the frozen catfish I bought locally at the largest grocery store chain in the area says “A Product of China” on the package. You have to look hard to find it; they aren’t exactly trumpeting this, but it is right there on the back. Catfish from China? Really? Catfish? I couldn’t believe it.

It turns out, that’s not an uncommon practice. The fish isn’t from China (I don’t think), but we send it there for Chinese workers to process it and then they send back. I still have a little bit in my freezer, but once that is done, it will be the last I eat it.

I have nothing against China directly and would really like to travel there. The culture and history there is amazing to me. On the other side of the coin, they have deplorable records on environmental and safety controls. Earlier this year, the smog and smoke in the air there made it nearly impossible to breathe in about one third of the country. Our own FDA has warned pet owners not to feed pet jerky treats from China to their furry friends, yet that same FDA allows Chinese companies to process our food. And it’s not just fish. The FDA is about to allow chicken to be processed in China as well.  Even worse there will be no required labels for chicken processed in China when it is used in soup or nuggets or any other place you find chicken. And there won’t be inspectors present, either, to make sure the meat is processed to American standards.

It is simply amazing to me that the greatest country in the world and one of the largest economies in the world would allow our food supply to be farmed out to a country with sub-standard records on just about everything.

As a fiction writer, I think of worst-case scenarios that could put people in danger. Usually, then, the hero comes in and saves the day. How hard would it be for a pathogen of some sort to be placed into several million pounds of chicken nuggets and then distributed throughout the United States sickening children in every state? And I’m not making this story up.

January’s chemical spill and water crisis taught us a basic lesson that we need to jealously guard our basic infrastructure. If we don’t, we can get in trouble very quickly..

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column, “‘Look up’ and live your life”, about our dependence on electronic gizmos. My brother refers to them as “MoMos.” They are gizMOs that make us MOrons. The column was partially inspired by a YouTube video called “Look Up”. I was talking about how too many of us (me, included) spend too much time with our faces in phones and tablets and laptops and miss life going on around us. We concentrate on social media, and forget to be social.

Shortly after that column ran in the paper, I got a note from a reader whose mother had written a poem strikingly similar to my column. Madeline “Happy” H. King of St. Albans, WV is 84 and I’m sure has lived a long and full life. I doubt every moment of her life has been happy, in spite of her nickname, but she understands that it is important for all of us to be present in our lives. After reading the poem, I decided to share it with everyone.

Enjoy Your Life

-Madeline “Happy” H. King of St. Albans, WV.

A few days ago, my wife and I were out running errands, in and out of various stores around town – the highlight of my week. Going into one, we noticed a sign saying something about Father’s Day. I stumbled for a moment, realizing that I had forgotten that Father’s Day was coming up. I mean, I AM a father and I am lucky enough to still have my father with me as well. It made me start wondering why Father’s Day seems to get short shrift compared to Mother’s Day.

While the “first” Father’s Day was celebrated as early as 1910, it didn’t become a National Holiday in the United States until 1972 when President Nixon signed a bill into law. In contrast, Mother’s Day was made a national holiday in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. Somewhat ironically, Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia (the founder of Mother’s Day) hated what that holiday became and fought against its commercialization the rest of her life. My guess is she would probably approve of the lower key recognition of Father’s Day, but I digress.

When my wife asked what I wanted for Father’s Day, should the girls ask, I really had no clue. I’m guessing most fathers would be in the same spot. Most of us don’t really think about ourselves first. As long as our families have what they need, we don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about wants. Or when we do, it tends to be “larger” items like that new big(ger) screen television or a new camera lens. We don’t think small. With no middle ground, our families are usually left with little recourse but to skip getting a present all together or to pick something completely inconsequential. For the record, if my family is reading this, I work from home. I don’t need ties…

I can’t speak for all fathers, and will probably get some grief from someone who was looking forward to the latest tie for the collection, just tell us Happy Father’s Day. Say thank you. Ask our advice about something. We love that. Hang out for a little bit. That’s really all I (we) want. If you want to take us out to dinner, that’s fine, too.

Unless, of course, you want to spring for that new telephoto zoom lens…

And to all you fathers out there, and especially mine, Happy Father’s Day!.

There is an old quote that says “If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” It has been attributed to Mickey Mantle, Eubie Blake, Mark Twain and others. Since the origin of the quote is up in the air, we’ll just focus on its wisdom.

I’m 46, coming up on 47 in a couple months. In my mind, that’s well past middle age. The odds on me living to 92 or 94 are low. That said, people are living longer and living healthier longer. So, it is possible that I am just now at the middle of my life. And while there are things I probably shouldn’t have done to my body over the years, I get the feeling I can change some of those habits and improve the outlook for the next 40+ years.

I’m not saying you won’t ever see me in a drive thru or wolfing down French fries like candy, but it is dawning on me that I really do need to take better care of myself. Getting more exercise and eating better.

Much at the urging of my bonus daughter Kaitlin, we are all looking for healthier foods. We are asking for meat and vegetables that are produced locally, for example. A couple months ago, we were traveling through Pocahontas County and saw farms and cows everywhere. After seeing yet another news report of tainted meat being recalled from several states over several months, it just makes sense that we look for meat produced closer to home. Obviously, it would be easy for tainted meat to come from a smaller place, but it just seems to make more sense to get it from an in-state farm than a major factory who-knows-where.

There is a nice side-effect to that as well. We are shopping locally, supporting local farmers and businesses and keeping that money in the state. This goes hand-in-hand with supporting local small businesses that actually make things. ABC News has their “Made In America” segment where they talk about things produced in the US. They frequently make the point that if we all bought just one more thing that was Made in America, it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Maybe by making an effort to take care of myself a little better, and take care of my family a little better, I can actually help some other families take care of themselves a little better, too. That works for me.

Now it’s time to jump on the treadmill and see if I can undo some of the other excesses from my youth..

Last week, I had some car trouble and had to call for a tow truck. I have an older car and as I was waiting on help to arrive, I was thinking about how much the repair was going to cost and praying it wouldn’t be a budget buster.

In my rearview mirror, I noticed two men “panhandling” by the road. I will be the first person to admit that whenever I see people asking for handouts beside the road, I’m suspicious. I’ve heard too many stories of people living like kings on the goodwill of others and I’ve been hustled more than once by a convincing sob story that turned out to be false. Inevitably, though, I ended up chatting with both men as I waited.

They were a father and son. Their reasons for being on the streets were different, but neither surprising. The father said he lost just about everything in a divorce. (I’m sure there was more to the story than that, but we didn’t get into details.) The son had been a coal miner, but got laid off. He said he was trying to convince his father to leave West Virginia because there was nothing here for him now.

We’ve just come through a primary election and a lot of people were proudly stating how much they “support coal” and other rhetoric that doesn’t mean much. I only heard one politician say anything about supporting coal miners. Unfortunately, he didn’t win his primary; I think he would have been a real bonus for the state.

Once the tow truck driver finally arrived, we talked as he drove me and my car to the garage. He was a happy guy, working his tail off on the evening shift. He mentioned his wife was home sick, recovering from cancer. The recovery from the radiation and chemotherapy treatments was worse than the cancer itself. She was laid up in bed and might never recover fully, he said. He was working, taking care of her and their four kids with help from a neighbor when he was at work.

By the time I got home, my worries about my car repair bill were meaningless. I have a car. I was thankful for everything around me. I have a home, a healthy, happy family and work to do. Sometimes it just takes a little perspective to remember what’s really important..