Some years, families are blessed to initiate festive new Christmas traditions. Other years, the new tradition is a solemn acquiescence to “the new normal.” The Tyrees fall into the latter category this year. That’s because my mother passed away exactly two months before Christmas, having shared her wit and wisdom with the world for 97-and-a-half […]

Many years ago, I found myself in the middle of an international war. As tough as each side was, I was fortunate that the ammunition was not bullets. It was chickens. The U.S. was the major supplier of chickens to Europe, but the organization now called the EU or European Union wanted to promote its […]