Columnists

To think that a newspaper — The Marion County Record in Kansas, in this case — was virtually shut down by a police raid at the heart of which may have been a marital dispute is mind-boggling.

These are the weeks that gardens are supposed to be in finest form, high summer.

We were in Massachusetts this week so my daughter could try out for a lacrosse club team based within striking distance of her boarding school.

Tyrants don’t speak aspirationally, they do not speak hopefully, they don’t say “wouldn’t it be wonderful if.” They bark orders, and woe to him or her who doesn’t carry them out.

It is a sad state of affairs that all anyone is talking about this summer is traffic.

No trips downtown in August.

Paying attention can be draining.

In the context of the way so many of us live our lives, not taking a break for something pleasurable is just business as usual.

Mad magazine’s Dave Berg, now more than ever.

It is a cliché that middle-aged Americans like me should indulge in nostalgia for the lost years of banana-seat bicycles and 10 speeds, but they did carry us far and they did provide us with a bliss of freedom completely unknown to my children’s generation.

Sag Harbor’s Jordan’s Run is always worth it. Just don’t miss the ceremonies.

So much of our time, especially in the summer, is taken up with running into proof positive that strangers are total idiots.