Before and After - Garden Bench

How long can pleasing decay pass as a theme in my seating options? I have tried to be comfortable with the whole shabby chic approach to neglected metal garden furniture. But, it's not for everyone. Some friends look uncomfortable sitting back against a rusting, flaking settee in a strapless summer dress on a humid afternoon.

This year my list of warm weather projects was topped with a plan to refurbish the garden furniture and spiff it up a little. I am hesitantly sharing my first attempts to do just this.

Seven Methods to catch the Lion

1. Newton's Method:
Let, the lion catch you.
For every action there is equal and opposite reaction.
Implies you caught lion .

2. Einstein Method:
Run in the direction opposite to that of the lion.
Due to higher relative velocity, the lion will also run faster and
will get tired soon.
Now you can trap it easily

3. Schrodinger Method:
At any given moment, there is a positive probability
that lion to be in the cage. So set the trap, sit down and wait.

4. Inverse Transformation Method
We place a spherical cage in the forest and enter it.
Perform an inverse transformation with respect to lion.
Lion is in and we are out.

5. Thermodynamic Procedure:
We construct a semi-permeable membrane which allows
every thing to pass through it except lions.
Then sweep the entire forest with it.

6. Integration Differentiation Method:
Integrate the forest over the entire area.
The lion is some where in the result.
So differentiate the result PARTIALLY w.r.t lion
to trace out the lion.

7. The Santa Singh's Method:
Don't even try. You'll get caught by the Lion.

Garden Surprises

This week my oak leaf hydrangeas have started to bloom. The showy white flowers are fragrant and huge. As pretty as they are in early summer, the color and beauty continue to be interesting through all four seasons. In late summer and early fall, the blooms will turn a pinkish brown. They look as dreamy as a sepia tone photograph. When the weather turns cold, they lose their leaves and the bark starts to exfoliate in a pleasing texture. In early spring, they begin to leaf out and grow taller with bigger leaves at the top, creating a little canopy of shade.

This week also brought out a hungry baby bunny. The little ball of fur was undeterred in its pursuit of grass to nibble on. Thankfully, it hadn't found the hostas yet!


One recent summer, a roaming band of wild bunnies went wild in the hosta beds. They ate everything they could reach and successfully consumed every single hosta. A gardening friend suggested I sprinkle red pepper flakes to deter the cottontails the next time. The following summer, a sly red fox chased the bunnies away. So far, we haven't seen too many surprise garden visitors.

Father's Day

It's Father's Day, and it's the first day of summer.
It's still real quiet here. All the kids are here, and that's something unusual. It's something I really, really appreciate. But they're sleeping in. They appreciate it, and I appreciate the quiet time, too.
I was blessed with four children. I always wonder about the impact I've had on them - mostly, it's been a case of just getting out of their way and not holding them back. I've occasionally tossed some challenges their way, but mostly they've challenged themselves. My job appears to have been to write the checks and pick them up, dust them off and not even let them think about giving up.
There have been plenty of failures along the way, of course. I hope I've taught them not to focus on them. After all, the story says Thomas Edison failed 6,000 times before he got the first light bulb right - and it only improved from there.
They're all different from each other, and all different from me.
I can't take credit for how they're turning out: Matthew, the car geek who's in the parts business, Andrew, the ski bum in engineering school, Katherine, the singer who's made it to Carnegie Hall - and who will master the art of spinning a rifle in guard - and Robert, the spelling champion and drum major who just looks so natural in a tux.
This is about you guys.
I sat down at my computer this morning to put up the Web site this morning, and discovered this from Andrew:
Happy Father's Day!

Thank you for being here for me when I need it.
Thank you for teaching me right from wrong.
Thank you for helping me through the roughest times.
Thank you for pushing me to greatness in my best times.
Thank you for changing my diapers when I was a baby.
Thank you for giving me money when I need it.
Thank you for cuddling me when I was a child.
Thank you for all the hugs.
Thank you for taking care of my wounds.
Thank you for being an inspiration of what a good father should be like.
Thank you for accepting me for who I choose to be.
Thank you for a truly warped sense of humor.
Thank you for teaching me how to write properly.
Thank you for teaching me puns and word-play.
Thank you for letting me be a rebel when I needed to be.
Thank you for letting me make my own mistakes.
Thank you for letting me learn from your mistakes.
Thank you for being honest with me.
Thank you for all of your respect.

Thank you for being a truly fantastic father.

I love you
-Andrew

I felt the tears well up. Thanks, guys, for being my kids.

- Dad

A Card for Dad

This occasion to recognize Dad calls for a hand made card, or at least a card that looks hand made. These are a few examples of appealing themes that don't feature convertible historic cars, backyard grills, a mug of beer or a trophy for the number 1 Dad.

I have a weakness for cards with doodled or fabric ties, a frequent gift for my Dad. The vintage floral card seemed an unusual find addressed to Dear Father. And although the tea bag card bears a weak pun, it's refreshing token for a Dad who enjoys a spot of tea.

Happy Father's Day!

Three Stages of Life

Life is divided into 3 Stages, they are:

Stage-I - Teen Age -Have Time and Energy, but, No Money.

Stage-II - Middle Age -Have Money and Energy, but, No Time.

Stage-III - Old Age -Have Time and Money, But, No Energy.

Visiting Hell

The ZIP code in Hell is 48169.
Ever since I was a kid, I've thought it was hilarious that a little town in Michigan is named Hell.
When I was a Scoutmaster, I thought about organizing a 50-mile hike with a route that would start in the little Livingston County village, then wind through much of the nearby Waterloo-Pinckney Recreation Area. It probably would have been a great hike, and what other unit could have worn patches celebrating "The 50-mile Hike from Hell?"
Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I'd never been to Hell, until now.
Kissy Missy and I were returning from the Undisclosed Location, and decided to make a detour. This led to all kinds of cheap jokes, including "We went through Hell to get home!"
Hell has three businesses - the general store, the ice cream store and the bar. Interestingly, there were lots of bikers in Hell. All the businesses sell souvenirs, and yes, I bought some.
Later this year, we plan to visit Paradise. And Ishpeming. Ishpeming means "heaven" in Anishinabemowin. We'll bring back souvenirs, too.

Fr Brown in 3-D!

Click on the picture above for the larger version. Sit back from your monitor and cross your eyes until the two images overlap, and there you have it--Fr Will Brown popping out of the screen, chasing you in his golf cart.

The Greedy Jackal

Once upon a time there lived a lazy jackal. Also in the hills there lived a hillman and a wild boar. Once when the hillman went to hunt, he saw the wold boar. He took a sharp aim with his arrow and stuck the boar. But the boar was only injured and it attacked the hillman and he died on the spot. But the boar also collapsed due to the injury and died.

The jackal happened to pass the site of both the dead bodies, and the jackal decided to eat them slowly. But he was excessively greedy and first wanted to eat the bowstring, before the other bodies. As he tried to eat the bowstring which was tightly attached to the bow, it snapped and the end of the string pierced the roof of its mouth and it stuck a big injury to the jackal and the jackal died on the spot.

MORAL: Too much of Greed is harmful.

The Heron and the Crab

Once upon a time there lived a heron by the side of a pond.
It was a lazy creature and once deivsed a plan to get a supply of fish without doing much work. So one day, he went to the side of the pond and put on a gloomy face without attempting to catch any fish.
The pond was also inhabited by a carb, which was wise and often helped the fish in the pond.
On seeing the gloomy heron, the crab asked her what the matter was.

The heron said, "Alas! I am worried that the pond is going to be soon devoid of any fish, which are in turn my source of food. I overheard a group of fishermen talking about catching all the fish in this pond. But I know of a pond somewhat far away, where all the fish shall be safe. If the fish are interested, i can carry a few each day to the other pond where they will be safe."

All the fish were eager to make use of the heron in reaching a safer destination. So everyday some of the them volunteer to go with the heron. The heron took some fish each day in the beak, and on reaching a large rock used to eat all the fish up and leave the bones of the fish at the rock. So she was able to get a continuos supply of fish at no effort at all. In the end, the curiosity got the better of the crab, and one day it volunteered to go with the fish. When it had gone closer to the rock, it realised the foul play the heron had been playing on the poor fish. Enraged, it tightened its claws around the neck of the heron and snapped the head of the heron off. The heron this died a selfish death. The crab crept back to the pond and told all the fish about the lies the heron had been telling.
--Panchatantra

Just in from an undisclosed location ....

A source close to the family would neither confirm nor deny that the image above is an image of the undisclosed location where Kissy Missy may or may not have undergone what might or might not have been a significant medical procedure.
The source, who asked not to be identified because the source was not authorized to speak for the family, indicated that Kissy Missy may have returned to the undisclosed location for unspecified followup care for the unconfirmed previous medical procedure.
The source indicated the results are stunning.

Whether You Know these

* The poisonous copperhead snake smells like fresh cut cucumbers.
* A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body.
* Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.
* The Barbie doll has more than 80 careers.
* To make one pound of whole milk cheese, 10 pounds of whole milk is needed.
* 99% of pumpkins are sold for decoration.
* Every 30 seconds a house fire doubles in size.
* The month of December is the most popular month for weddings in the Philippines.
* A one ounce milk chocolate bar has 6 mg of caffeine.
* Carbon monoxide can kill a person in less than 15 minutes.
* The largest ever hailstone weighed over 1kg and fell in Bangladesh in 1986.
* Ants can live up to 16 years.
* In Belgium, there is a museum that is just for strawberries.
* The sense of smell of an ant is just as good as a dog's.
* The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
* The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
* The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
* Popped popcorn should be stored in the freezer or refrigerator as this way it can stay
crunchy for up to three weeks.
* Coca-Cola was originally green.
* The blood of mammals is red, the blood of insects is yellow, and the blood of lobsters is blue.
* The hummingbird, the loon, the swift, the kingfisher, and the grebe are all birds
that cannot walk.
* The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog.
The frog peels off several times a year with new growth.
* Before air conditioning was invented, white cotton slipcovers were put on furniture to
keep the air cool.
* The bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissible in an American court.
98% of brown bears in the United States are in Alaska.
* Cheetahs make a chirping sound that is much like a bird's chirp or a dog's yelp.
The sound is so intense; it can be heard a mile away.

Make Your Own Jewelry from Miniatures

Doll house miniatures don't have to sit on the tiny mahogany table in the tiny formal parlor waiting for someone to play. It's time to bring the dainty diminutives out in the big world. Sally Cameron Griffiths shares her tips on converting her doll house finds into rings, earrings and necklaces with a little glue, jewelry parts and a pair of pliers. Here are the instructions from the Guardian to create your own recycled and wearable tea set.

The Doe who saved Her Husband's Life

Once upon a time there was a fine Stag who ruled a herd of deers in a forest and it had a beautiful wife. The doe was very devoted to her husband and helped him in all matters of life.

One day, the Stag was caught in the trap of a hunter and the doe was very frightened as was the stag. All the friends of the stag left him.
But, the doe remained steadfast next to him and waited for the hunter to come.

She was very devoted to her husband. As soon as the hunter came, she fell on his knees and begged, "Sir! please make a nice bed of leaves for me and my husband and
then kill me first and then my husband and you can have a nice feast."

The hunter was so amazed and surprised by her love, that he went to first free the stag before he prepared the bed of leaves, and in a split second, the stag and the doe ran after being free.

Moral: Great love can achieve anything.

Jataka Tales

Words using in SMS

Now-a-Days, a new Shortcuts are using for sending SMS by Compressing the Words.

Likely to be a New language..

The following are few Shortcuts:

cu@ - see you at

cusoon - See you soon

im4u - i am for you

itsf8 - its fate

ldr - long distance relationship

ltns - long time no see

luvu2 - love you too

gt - cuite

u4e - yours forever

ur4e - you are for me

A3 - anytime, anyplace, anywhere

B4n - bye for now

Bcnu - be seeing you

Bol - best of luck

Cul - see you latter

Dnr - dinner

Ez - easy

gmta - great minds think alike

F4i - for your information

Hand - have a nice day

Hru - how are you

Jk - just kidding

Mte - my thoughts exactly

Np - no problem

Pls - please

Rotfl - rolling on the floor laughing

RuOk - are you okay

Thnq - thank you

Urok - you are ok

Xint - excellent

Brb - be right back

Imho - in my humble opinion

Bmval - be my valentine

ygm - you got mail

1dRfl - Wonderful

2 - to/too/two

2dA - today

2moro - tomorrow

2nite - tonite

3dom - freedom

4 - for

4get - forget

4N - foreign

ADN - any day now

AFAIK - as far as I know

AFAIR - as far as I recall

ASAP - as soon as possible

ATM - at the moment

B - be

B4 - before

B4N - bye for now

BB - bye-bye

Bf - boyfriend

BG - big grin

BION - believe it or not

BK - big kiss

BTDT - been there, done that

BTW - by the way

By - busy

C - see/sea

CB - call back

CUL - see you later

CWYL - chat with you later

DUZ - does

DUZNT - doesn't

F2T - free to talk?

G2G - got to go

Gf - girlfried

Gr8 - great

Grr - angry

H2 - how to

HUH - have you heard?

IC - I see

ICCL - I couldn't care less

IK - I know

ILU - I love you

in4ml - informal

KISS - keep it simple, stupid

KUTGW - keep up the good work

@ - "At"

MSG - "Message"

W - "With"

ATB - "All the best"

NE - "Any"

W/O - "Without"

B - "Be, Bee"

NETHNG- "Anything"

WKND - "Weekend"

BCNU - "I'll be seeing you"

NE1 - "Anyone"

XLNT - "Excellent"

BWD - "Backward"

NO1 - "No-one"

XOXOX - "Hugs and kisses"

B4 - "Before"

OIC - "Oh, I see"

YR - "Your"

PCM - "Please call me"

1 - "One, Won"

CU - "See you"

PLS - "Please"

2 - "Too, To, Two"

DOIN - "Doing"

PPL - "People"

:) - Original smiley

:-) - Classic smiley

;-) - Wink

:-)) - Very happy

|-) - Hee-hee

:-D - Laugh loud

:-o - Amazement

:^D" - Great! I like it!

:-* - Kiss

<3 - I love you

:-s - Confusion

{} - No comment

:-C - Totally unbelievable

%-) - Confused

*:* - Fuzzy face

:-@ - Screaming

:-7 - Wry remark

:-p - Sticking out tongue

:-( - Frown

:> - Develish grin

(:-|K - Dressed to kill

:-|| - Angry

::=)) - Seeing double

:-> - Hey

|:-0 - No explanation

#:-) - Hair in a mess

>;-(' - I am spitting mad

#-) - Partied all night

:-| - Hmmm

:-& - Tongue-tied

L8 - late

L8r - later

LMK - let me know

M8 - mate

MOF - matter of fact

MT - empty

MTE - my thoughts exactly

NAGI - not a good idea

Ne - any

Ne1 - anyone

No1 - no one

nrg - energy

OIC - Oh I see

OK - okay

ONNA - oh no, not again!

OTT - over the top

PCM - please call me

Pls - please

Ppl - people

PTL - praise the Lord

R - are

Re - regarding

RUOK - are you okay?

Spk - speak

Sry - sorry

SWAK - sealed with a kiss

THX - thanks

TTYL - talk to you later

TXT - text

U - you

U@ - you at? (where are you?)

UOK - you okay?

UR - your/you're

Usu - usually

W8 - wait

W84M - wait for me

W/ - with

Wan2 - want to

wn - when

WMF - works for me

XLNT - excellent

Y - why

YM - you mean

YR - yeah, right

SUM1 - "Someone"

3SUM - "Threesome"

GR8 - "Great"

STRA - "Stray"

4 - "For, Four"

H8 - "Hate"

THNQ - "Thank you"

:-) - "I'm happy"

THX - "Thanks"

:-o - "I'm surprised"

L8R - "Later"

U - "You"

:-( - "Sad face"

LUV - "Love"

UR - "You are "

d:) - "Baseball cap "

MOB - "Mobile"

WAN2 - "Want to?"

;-/ - "Confused"

2DAY - "Today"

F2T - "Free to talk"

RUOK - "Are you okay?"

2MORO - "Tomorrow"

(:-...- Heart-broken

%-) - I'm tipsy but happy

#:-o - Oh no!

:-# - My lips are sealed

8-) - Sender wears glasses

:+( - I'm hurt by that

:*)? - Are you drunk?

<:-0 - Eeek!

:-e - I'm disappointed

(-: - Sender is left-handed

<:-) - Dumb question

~o~ - Bird

:@ - Ouch!

:-(*) - Sick comment

(:-) - Bald

:// - Frustrated

:3-< - Dog

d:-) - Hats off to your great idea

:-$ - Put your money where your mouth is

:-{) - Sender has moustache

|-| - Going to sleep

:@) - Pig

\o/ - Praise the Lord

*<:o) - Clown

:-{)} - Sender has moustache & beard

:=8) - Baboon

8^ - Chicken

~#:-( - Bad hair day

:'-( I- am crying

:*) - I' tipsy

:-o - Oh

O:-) - Innocent

&:-) - Sender has curly hair

FWD - "Forward"

RGDS - "Regards"

General Informations

* A Cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves to death.
* Each day in the US, animal shelters are forced to destroy 30,000 dogs and cats.
* A shrimp's heart is in their head.
* A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
* The cat lover is an ailurophile, while a cat hater is an ailurophobe.
* A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.
* It may take longer than two days for a chick to break out of its shell.
* Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 to 60 mph.
* There are more than 100 million dogs and cats in the United States.
* Americans spend more than 5.4 billion dollars on their pets each year.
* Cat's urine glows under a black light.
* The largest cockroach on record is one measured at 3.81 inches in length.
* It would require an average of 18 hummingbirds to weigh in at 1 ounce.
* Moles are able to tunnel through 300 feet of earth in a day.
* Howler monkeys are the noisiest land animals. Their calls can be heard over 2 miles away.
* A quarter of the horses in the US died of a vast virus epidemic in 1872.
* The fastest bird is the Spine-tailed swift, clocked at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.
* There is no single cat called the panther. The name is commonly applied to the leopard,
but it is also used to refer to the puma and the jaguar. A black panther is really a black leopard.
A capon is a castrated rooster.
* The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill about 2,200 people.
* Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
* Despite man's fear and hatred of the wolf, it has not ever been proved that a non-rabid
wolf ever attacked a human.
* It is estimated that a single toad may catch and eat as many as 10,000 insects in the course
of a summer.
* Amphibians eyes come in a variety shapes and sizes. Some even have square or
heart-shaped pupils.
* Dogs that do not tolerate small children well are the St. Bernard, the Old English sheep dog,
the Alaskan malamute, the bull terrier, and the toy poodle.
* The world's largest rodent is the Capybara. It is an Amazon water hog that looks like a
guinea pig; it can weigh more than 100 pounds.

Summer Floors for Frugalistas

Summer is a time to lighten up your home and relax your furnishings a bit to reflect your more casual approach to living and entertaining, in- and out-of-doors. Offer your floors a little breather, too. Roll up your wool carpets and area rugs and let your pretty floors be exposed for an airier feel and a fresh look.

If your floors are calling for a little more interest, try a taped design. Less expensive than paint and less permanent, you can add a border design to a virtual rug in vinyl floor tape or painter's masking tape.

For a light and colorful look to decorate your stairs, try your steady hand to paint stripes or a pattern like a stair runner. Marking out your pattern with tape will keep your lines neat and even. Thrifty Chic offers a striped DIY staircase project, top. This Old House Journal offers a bolder diamond design. Interior Transformations by Ann Grafton offers a subtle solid color painted runner. Or take inspiration from Jim Lambie and his spectacular taped floor installations.

How many Alphabet 'F' are there?

Don't Cheat!!!

Try this ..

Count the number of F's in the following Sentence in 15 seconds:

"FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED
WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS".

Managed it?

Scroll down only after you have counted them!
OK?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How many?

Three?

Wrong.

There are Six Alphabet F's.

Read again!

"FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED
WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS".

The reasoning is further down...

The Brain cannot process the word "OF".
Incredible or what?

Conference prayers ascending

This week is the St. Michael's Youth Conference--Southwest at in Granbury, TX. I have served on the faculty, but I'm on sabbatical this time around. So I'll be keeping a vigil of prayer for those at the conference, and I invite you to join me.

It is a wonderful immersion experience in the Catholic faith. I recommend it for all youth (ages 12-19). We are blessed with an excellent director, faculty, and staff.

Here is the conference prayer:
O EVERLASTING God, who hast ordained and constituted the services of Angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven, so, by thy appointment, they may succour and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a listen to the conference hymn, "Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels":

Junior's Attitude on Senior

When Junior Take a long time to finish, he is Slow,
When Senior takes a long time, he is Thorough.

When Junior don't do it, he is Lazy,
When Senior does not do it, he is Busy.

When Junior do something without being told, he is trying to be Smart,
When Senior does the same, he takes the Initiative.

When Junior please his Senior, he is apple Polishing,
When Senior pleases his Senior, he is Cooperating.

When Junior make a mistake, he is an Idiot,
When Senior makes a mistake, he's only Human.

When Junior is out of the office, he is Wondering Around,
When Senior is out of the office, he's on Business.

When Junior on a day off sick, he is always Sick,
When Senior is a day off sick, he must be very Ill.

When Junior apply for leave, he must be going for an Interview,
When Senior applies for leave, it's because he's Overworked.

When Junior do good, his Senior never Remembers,
When Junior do wrong, Senior never Forgets.

The water tower

I recently had the opportunity to visit downtown Ypsilanti. As I turned onto Cross Street from Depot Town, my attention was drawn to the, uh, rather distinctive structure pictured at left: the Ypsilanti Water Tower.
It was erected - excuse me - 1890 as part of the city's first water system. It served the city as its only water tower up until the middle of the last century. It is no longer in regular service.
The water tower is listed as an American Water Landmark by the American Water Works Association; a historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the Michigan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The old Ann Arbor News, in 2007, quoted Ypsilanti's mayor, Paul Schreiber, as saying, "The water tower has a historic marker. And it's a very interesting thing if you look at the stonework."
The Joliet limestone stonework is, indeed, very interesting. I read the historic marker placed next to the structure. Neither of those things were what drew me to visit the site.
What were they thinking????

Lesson on Temper

There once was a little boy who had a Bad Temper.

His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper,
he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the Boy had driven 45 nails into the fence.

Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered
daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out
one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that
all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, 'You have done well, my Son, but look at the holes in the fence.

The fence will never be the same.

When you say things in anger, they Leave a Scar just like this one.

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.

But, It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry,

the Wound Will Still be There.

A Verbal Wound is as bad as a Physical One.

A Rabbit and a Crow

A Crow was sitting on a Tree, doing nothing all day.

A Rabbit asked him, "Can I also sit like You and do nothing all day long?".

The Crow answered: “Sure, why not”.

So, the Rabbit sat on the ground below the Crow, and rested.

A Fox jumped on the Rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be Sitting and Doing Nothing, You must be Sitting very High Up.

Second graders at the paper

It's never too early to become media literate - and a group of second-graders from Mt. Pleasant's Vowles Elementary School got to see first-hand how their local newspaper is put together.
The group toured the Morning Sun, and staffers Tony Sapienza, Nancy Shackelford and I got to be their tour guides.
We showed them how ads come together, told them how news gets to be news, and how it all gets onto paper.

The presses weren't running, so we could stop and take a good look at the remarkable, precision machinery that puts ink on paper.

I pointed out how we can print in color, and how the web-fed offset press works.

And how, after everything's printed, folded and cut, it comes out at the end of the line, ready for inserts, packaging and distribution. I'v been around it for years, but I'm still amazed at what happens to produce The Daily Miracle.