Merlin’s favorite times of the year are the fall and spring, simply because that’s when windows can be open and he can watch (and smell) the birds and squirrels that he’d like to be outside chasing. Here, he peers intently at the back yard through the open window right next to my desk earlier this week. Merlin is the one who disappeared for a couple of days after an escape through a screen about two years ago. He doesn’t seem to eager to leave the comforts of home behind after that adventure.

Librarian wants random winners after boy ‘hogs’ reading contest
Why do Birmingham taxpayers give $500,000 yearly to college sports?
Moral principle: What you do with your money is your business
Christmas looks different now, but I still see joy with eyes of a child
Will the last journalist to leave newspaper business turn off lights?
Happiness and success elude me unless I’m doing something I love
Pearl Harbor: Simple sneak attack or culmination of FDR’s plan for war?