Surely I’ve mentioned this before, but I love to travel by Google Air, navigating with one finger as I “fly over” any place in the world. Recently I learned that there is another Webster Lake that has a very interesting story. The lake is right next to the town of Webster, Massachusetts; and when I say “right next to the town,” I seriously mean that. Since I’m flying, I don’t really need to know highway numbers, but this one is important because I-395 basically runs right smack dab between the town of Webster and the lake they call Webster. People there could go to the lake over their lunch hour— it’s that close!

* Just an FYI….For all you Pioneer Woman people, Ree Drummond will be starring in the first ever Food Network Christmas movie, entitled “Candy Coated Christmas.” * Just wondering if the Rock cried any manly tears about what happened and is happening in Afghanistan. * Just saying….Since it is September, I do have fall items placed here and there in my house.

* Don’t go to the paint store to get thinner, it does not work. * It’s the little things that count! A former McDonald’s worker has admitted to putting an extra chicken nugget in the boxes for years! Way to go! * Unleaded gas was $2.94 at the end of July.

With this being the beginning of another school year, even though I don’t have a child anxiously waiting for the first day, I do have six of our seven grandchildren enrolled in school, one place or another, from first grade through second year in college. And even though my husband is no longer concerned with all the details of beginning a new school year, I can’t help but feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. I don’t know when a person no longer senses that excitement, as the majority of my life has revolved around a calendar that says August is the first month of the year.

This summer, my sweet niece and goddaughter, Jenny, took her family of five on a road trip from California throughout the Midwest, and back again. The more than month-long trip was quite the adventure for them and it was planned out to a T!

It’s that most wonderful time of the year! As late summer rolls around, kids and their parents make lists of everything each child will need to start school. But before school starts, here in Rooks County, kids of all ages look forward to FAIR TIME! Did you know that the concept of a fair started with just one man?

* A word of advice….DO NOT watch “The Buddy Holly Story” and “LaBama” on the same weekend, let alone the same day! Just saying! * Why didn’t anyone style John Goodman’s hair for those Slotomania commercials? * And what is with the commercial where you see a lady running barefoot on a wooden dock so she can jump off the end into the water? That’s all fine and good, but she barely misses stepping on, not one, but two nails that were sticking out of the wood! * I am one of those people who would love for shampoo and conditioner companies to write those two words just a little bigger on the bottles. * Yes, I can still remember when every business and place was closed on Sunday except the churches because Sunday was a family day! * Here’s a shout out to the chosen few who raced their mini bikes or rode on the back of said mini bikes in Schneider’s pasture back in the day.

THIS AND THAT * Read this quote after I wrote my Dog Days of Summer editorial…And God said, “I will send them without wings so no one suspects they are angels.” * What is your favorite Disney coaster? I love Big Thunder Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine. And though it is technically not a roller coaster, I do love Splash Mountain as well.

We all celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1, and we probably all have certain traditions associated with that special day that we hold dear, such as watching parades and football games, or binge-watching movies; playing games with the family; eating a certain meal that is a family tradition; frying New Year’s Cookies!; reading a book; or just hibernating like a big ol’ bear. Whatever it is, I venture to say that just about everyone has a special tradition that is always associated with New Year’s Day.

* My sister and I attended the Firehouse concert at the Wild West Fest. During one of the songs everyone got out their phones and turned on their flashlights. It was quite an amazing sight! But what I want to know is who remembers when we used to do that very same thing with our Bic cigarette lighters? You didn’t have to smoke cigarettes, you just had to remember to bring a lighter to the concert!