rockford area

Every month of the year brings about a full moon, and in each of those months the moon is given a different title.

There just aren't enough words to describe the death and devastation that we've seen since that swarm of tornadoes tore through Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

It's been a pretty good couple of months for star-gazing in the Rockford area. We just finished up with the Geminid Meteor Showers last week, now we move on to what's sometimes referred to as The Christmas Comet.

Whether or not you choose to follow the guidance of Dr. Anthony Fauci is your business, and your business alone. But, Dr. Fauci, along with state and local health officials have given the green light for trick-or-treating next weekend.

Depending on your age, you may have memories of when catalytic converters were first required to be equipped to cars. It was back in 1975, and back then many people paid mechanics to remove them, my dad included.

Over the last week or so, every time I hear my wife say "There's another one! Get it!" I try to pretend that she's discussing slices of pizza or bottles of fine bourbon. She's not, though. She's talking about stink bugs. Like the one pictured above.

Another headline I considered was "Stuff You Notice When You're Quarantined And Bored," but I thought it was too abstract. My neighbor wasn't fond of it either when I yelled it to him for approval over the backyard fence. Might be the mask.

Not to be confused with the Farmer's Almanac, which is the new kid on the block compared to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the Old Farmer's Almanac has, according to their website, been at this weather prediction game since 1792 (229 years). The Farmer's Almanac is the relative newcomer, publishing their first almanac in 1818, the year Illinois became a state.

One of the things that has helped to save so many restaurants from closing is turning out to be the same thing that is ripping off unsuspecting customers. That thing is ordering take out or delivery food.

Summer nights around the Rockford area have been pretty noisy lately, thanks to the efforts of our local cricket and cicada populations. Why are they louder now than they were at the beginning of summer?