We live in an era of much unrest in which people fear for their security, be it socially (terror threats), economically (recession), or environmentally (global warming). Feeding off this, our elected officials have been quite successful in using fear-mongering to introduce endless amounts of legislation that do much more harm than good.

Besides being my birthday today, May 30 is the true Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and serves as a day to remember those who have died defending our country.

I’ve become a creature of habit. I think it’s because of the sense of security that it offers. The repetition of doing the same thing on a routine basis provides less chance that my already vulnerable focus will be altered — or that my single-dimensioned lifestyle will be challenged by something that entails exertion.

The front page of the May 23 issue of this newspaper showed a photo of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer looking determined under the headline “Farm bill appears veto-proof.” Admittedly, Sen. Schumer is one of our most vocal legislators, if not exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Critical thinking is not his strong suit. But considering the company he keeps, this isn’t surprising.

It has been nearly a year since Jon Powers announced his intent to run for the congressional seat currently held by Tom Reynolds. I was at the event, held in Clarence, and I was immediately struck by the candidate’s candor about his upbringing and the time he spent in Iraq.

The other day as Henrietta was giving me the stare-down and I was going through the repertoire of things that she could possibly have wanted, I realized that she would likely not survive with another family. She has us (I like to say “us” but that really means “me”) so well trained and happy to comply with her every whim — even when I don’t know what it is — that she would be hard pressed to find a family who could read her mind as well as I do.

Headline news from various parts of the world ran a parallel course last week as both Great Britain and the Vatican released statements regarding alien life. British officials have decided to release previously classified documents on UFOs and the Vatican has issued a statement explaining that extra-terrestrials and religion can co-exist (on an unrelated matter: I wish they’d also explain why we always have to put the article “the” in front of “Vatican”).

The history of the Erie Canal is filled with information that doesn’t seem to fit into a typical category. One such item was gleaned from the life of Paul Murphy, born in Hartland in 1892.

Audubon of New York’s Winter 2008 Newsletter reports an 80 percent decline in field sparrows, an 87 percent decline in eastern meadowlarks and a 98 percent decline in grasshopper sparrows in New York state. There were no figures for the vesper sparrows that have long occupied a roadside niche on the back roads of Orleans County.