LightGramsMarch 12, 2026Volume 30, Number 10 People do some strange things to get their names listed in Guinness World Records. We’ve written before about some of those and could actually devote this column every week to just some of those antics. One that took place in October of 2025, though, seems worthy of some reflection.…
LightGramsMarch 5, 2026Volume 30, Number 9 Skiing can be an exhilarating sport, and that’s no doubt what Roula De Miranda-Arce expected last week when she, her twin sister, and a friend traveled to Big Bear Mountain Ski Resort in California. Her skis were not yet on the ground when she had the greatest adrenaline rush…
LightGramsFebruary 26, 2026Volume 30, Number 8 “Don’t shoot the messenger” is a phrase that has been around for a while. One website said it can be traced to ancient China between the 3rd and 5th centuries, B.C. The meaning is simple: Don’t get upset at the person who reports bad news; they weren’t responsible for…
LightGramsFebruary 19, 2026Volume 30, Number 7 Mickey Baretto claimed to be the owner of the New Yorker Hotel, a landmark property with more than 1,000 rooms. In 2018 he paid $200 to rent one of its rooms and never moved out. He never paid for another night’s rent. When the hotel refused to give him…
LightGramsFebruary 5, 2026Volume 30, Number 6 Food pantries are not uncommon in our land. Our church maintains one, serving those who can’t meet expenses. But most of the people we serve understand that we don’t carry a wide selection of items. Canned goods and other non-perishable items are mainly what we have to offer. A…
LightGramsJanuary 29, 2026Volume 30, Number 5 Most museums are of great interest to some, but not to others. A train museum captures my attention, but others glance at it with little interest. It’s all about finding common ground. Which is why a museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada stands out. Entitled, “Museum Of Personal Failure”,…
LightGramsJanuary 22, 2026Volume 30, Number 4 “Giving Up Too Soon” The paramedics did their best, but they couldn’t revive 20-year-old Timesha Beauchamp. A doctor pronounced the time of death, but he did it over the phone; he had not examined the patient in person. A little while later a worker at the funeral home to…
LightGramsJanuary 15, 2026Volume 30, Number 3 The Beach Academy in south Wales launched a good work not long ago: They aimed to clean debris from the rock pools of Ogmore by Sea Beach. Similar efforts are conducted in our own community as volunteers take time to pick up trash along the shores of our lakes…
LightGramsJanuary 8, 2026Volume 30, Number 2 Airports are busy places with travelers dashing to make connections and staff processing passengers and luggage on tight timelines. It was a surprise, therefore, when the Norfolk (VA) International Airport posted on their social media site an appeal for help in finding someone. A teddy bear had been discovered…
LightGramsJanuary 1, 2026Volume 30, Number 1 Growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, I knew about slop. It referred to table scraps that had been tossed into a bucket and delivered to the hogs that my father raised. Once it landed in the bucket, that food matter was no longer fit for human consumption,…