Dear readers: Appearing on September 13, 2012, this column was my very first for The Somers Record. Because it captures the horror and deep personal feelings of this never-to-be-forgotten event, I have rerun it each year since in memory of our fallen heroes, family and friends who perished that day and who are still sacrificing their lives years later from 9/11 related illnesses.

There’s a chill in the air, a tart briskness that seems like you could shatter it with a hammer. Most people would reach for a pullover, but that chill causes me to break into a sweat. Even after all these years, the first time I feel Jack Frost nipping at my nose, an abject panic sets in and I start trying to think up excuses for why I didn’t do homework that was due 44 years ago.

It seems to me that we have gone from the warmth of the 20th century to the cold of the 21st.

I’m not talking about wars or politics, but books and telephones and newspapers and board games as opposed to texting and emailing and electronic games and the anonymity of the computer itself.  

People today speak quickly as if they want to get over it fast; they text in acronyms, ...

On the face of it, the conceit behind award-winning stage musical “Urinetown” seems absurd: Citizens are required to pay for the privilege of relieving themselves at public urinals.

To baby boomers, charging people to use public restrooms is neither absurd nor unthinkable. True, there were no coin-operated urinals when we were young, but there were stalls that required a dime to be ...

Most people I know gain weight over the winter. Just like polar bears, they eat for warmth and hide their weight under a layer of fur or, in this case, velour tracksuits. But I’m different (so what else is new?). I tend to gain all my weight during the summer when we travel, and go to lots of barbecues and picnics, and drink ginormous, high-calorie slushy drinks to cool off.

By the time ...