Articles written by Arden Chaffee
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Waves
If you have been to the ocean, you may have witnessed the overpowering energy in waves. Wave motion is usually caused by the wind and affects the water from the surface all the way to the bottom....
Regrets
Arthur C. Brooks from The Atlantic magazine says, “Life is full of regrets.” You may wish things were like they used to be in the “Good Old Days.” That could be decades or just yesterday....
Bicycles
“I ride my bike, I roller skate, don’t drive no car.” – Melanie, 1971. Jody Rosen’s new book “Two Wheels Good” tells the story of the most popular form of transportation humankind has...
Collecting
An article in Smithsonian Magazine brought collecting to my attention. Most of us have collections. We often start them by accident, having begun by browsing garage sales, auctions and inheritance. I...
eSports
Freedom Schools have decided to drop athletics and go with eSports as a result of declining enrollment. To most, this would seem a great loss, but it signals the beginning of a new era and a way to...
Caves
Caves: home to humankind before the written word whose history is documented on their walls; habitat for many creatures, including prehistoric cave bears and wolves, who competed with Neanderthals...
Starving profits
“You can’t starve a profit” – Clint Wilcox, Oklahoma Country Magazine Wilson's article, titled “Feeling the Pinch,” referred to the inflated cost of farming with fuel, fertilizer and...
Tribal energy
Tribes are getting serious about solar energy. You have seen the commercial touting the partnership between the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Oklahoma Gas and Electric on property held in trust in southeast...
Healing
“Body, heal thyself!” It’s too bad that a command like that doesn’t work, but self-healing is as old as humankind itself. It starts with what we eat but genetics do play a huge part in our...
Speech mannerisms
Illeism: The act of referring to oneself in the third person singular. Bob Dole, the late U.S. Senator from Russell, Kansas, was a famous Illeist. He ran for president in 1996 and often used the...
Nuclear annihilation
As Vladimir Putin rattles his nuclear sabre, the human race is again on the brink of annihilation. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I would go to bed each night fearful that there would be no...
Dreams
The mind is an amazing thing. It starts to work first thing in the morning and doesn’t stop working until the teacher calls on you in class. A question posed in Smithsonian Magazine piqued my...
Green burial
Death is a permanent feature of every community, and many choose embalming, caskets, vaults, interment in mausoleums, and even freezing for attempted reanimation. There is also an increasing trend in...
Gold rush
“All that glitters is not gold.” That line from Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” tells us that things that seem most valuable on the surface are often deceptive. Such was the gold rush to California in 1848-1851. Visiting The Elegant...
Nuclear testing
Atomic bombs: The fear has been hovering over us since the Russians developed their own weapons of mass destruction after World War II. Unilateral atmospheric tests were conducted until 1958 when Grea...
Social Security
Americans may not bond on everything, but AARP’S Bulletin about the future of Social Security finds them in agreement on its importance. The program, now 86 years old, has had challenges in the...
Decisions, decisions
“The mind is an amazing thing, it starts to work first thing in the morning and doesn’t stop working until the teacher calls on you in class.” My friends and I joke about “senior moments...
Knives
Knives are an important part of history. The first users of sharp-edged instruments were of the stone age when they discovered that some rocks could be used for cutting and scraping. Those which...
Chips ahoy!
Computer riddle: “What do you do for a bad chip?” Answer: “Good bean dip.” The problem is not one of bad chips, but no chips at all. The shortage has crippled industries making everything...
Humor
The Reader’s Digest has a monthly column called: “Laughter, the Best Medicine.” In this month’s magazine cover story, it says that laughter takes our minds off our problems and connects us to...
Curiosity
“Curiosity killed a cat,” but cats aren’t the only curious animals. Humans also wonder what is going on. The information edge drives social media and most Facebook followers revel in the latest...
Music
“Remember what the door mouse said: 'Feed your head'.” These lyrics from Jefferson Airplane in 1967 didn’t refer to brain health but, according to a supplement from Smithsonian Magazine, some...
Reputation
Henry Ford said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” Those words are as true today as they were when spoken over 75 years ago. As children grow up, parents should set exa...
Taxation
The first of the year finds business-people across America scrambling to send out 1099 forms and sorting receipts for taxes. The deadline for the first one-half of property tax has come, with the...
King Solomon's mines
King Solomon was a biblical character known for wealth and knowledge. Throughout history, his mines are believed to be the source of his riches. To the uninitiated, the area appears to be one of...