Sano Almanac

For many of us it is no longer necessary to be concerned with the basics of life – food, clothing and shelter. We’ve reached a point in our history where we can afford to indulge ourselves in aspirations to be a better person. No matter how we protest, in the back of our minds, we…

The big day will open in a very short time, next Sunday to be exact. It seems like forever depending on if you’re young or old. ‘Christmas in July’ is really pushing the button – kids don’t understand it and others are bewildered. In essence, Christmas is about four things: 1. light – the winter…

Apple Cake   Fruits are an integral part of the holiday season. At one time a treasure of an orange, in a stocking, was the essence of seasonal glory for young hearts. Oranges were rare, they had to traveled a great distances to a find a home above the fireplace. Today, of course, they are…

How many of you remember taking an ax and either going out to the back woodlot or a farmer’s fence row and cutting a cedar tree to bring home for the holidays? Where and when did this delightful custom begin? The Internet is overwhelmed with answers which do not agree with each other. The earliest…

Timely Baking Tips Noone ever spent less time in the kitchen than me though from somewhere back in the dark ages I have a degree in Home Economics. In my day a girl went to college for two certificates: teaching and marriage. One can safely assume I flunked both courses.            These helpful cooking tips came…

I’m a storyteller and don’t pretend to be anything else. The following is the story of one Thanksgiving dinner and people I will never forget. A bit of background: I was teaching sixth grade in Ohio and my sister was living with me. She was the Director of Nursing at the local hospital. She was…

Days are shorter and nights are longer as winter, the dark season, fast approaches. We’ve had our first spot of snow and breathe a sigh of relief that it was a pittance compared to what fell north of us. Now we race toward the holidays as Black Friday sales gear up to claim our attention.…

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month Armistice was declared to end the First World War, in 1918. It was the first war in which the United States participated on an international scale and was to be the war that would end all wars. This was not to be the case,…

For a most of 146 years this phrase has been a part of the American lexicon. The old soda fountains are now a part of a lost culture though every once-in-a-while you’ll find one stashed away in a little country store on a lost back road. Reproductions don’t count as they do not have the…