When you’re a kid, you believe you can be anything. Astronaut, Olympic Athlete, long lost princess — no matter how far-fetched these aspirations might seem to the drab adult world, to a child, these are the dreams of possibility. Somewhere around middle school, the limitations of ...

When my son was about nine, we walked into a drugstore on Feb. 15, the day after Valentine’s Day. Clearance tables cluttered the front, stacked high with heart-shaped boxes dotted with red foil-wrapped chocolates, a veritable chocolate forest. Like Christmas stars, these piles were topped ...

“What’s the Real Feel Temperature in Saranac Lake?” “The temperature in Saranac Lake right now feels like negative 31 degrees due to wind chill,” the smart speaker intones. Ugh, but at least the sun is out. Part of the reason I moved here 36 years ago was that I wanted more ...

“Amazing breakthrough in breeding! World record holder! Developed in secrecy, the first Super Chicken is now public.” My older sibling read the headlines aloud before showing me the photo. “This bird has 70% more thigh and breast meat and will revolutionize the food ...

My youngest is curled up with her laptop, angling her head back and forth as she clicks the mouse. The camera is on, and as I walk by, I see that she is virtually trying on glasses. Blessed with better eyesight than her mother, the lenses won’t be for correction; rather, they will reduce the ...

For like the zillionth time, I left my bags in the car when I shopped. I was out of town, making an unplanned stop at a big-box store that I normally avoid. Sometimes, though, there’s just no way around it. So, there I was, with a cart full of party necessities, sprinkled with a few ...