Definition of Country

In black dialect, the word "country," when it is used as a synonym for rural, is a pejorative, as in "get your country ass on up outta here."

Economic Indicator

You know the local economy has tanked when the local dollar store closes its doors.

Code Orange

You know it's too hot inside your second-floor, Dogtown digs when your tropical fish start to die.

Flying My Kite

I'm sailing down the Forest Park bike path that parallels Highway 40 on my 10-speed, a French baguette sticking out of my knapsack, smiling. On the adjacent highway, the traffic is bumper-to-bumper, Democrats and Republicans, Bush bashers and Bush backers, all sitting still in their SUVs, heading nowhere at $3.00-plus per gallon. The bag holding my bread is flapping in the wind like a kite.