The Kansas City Star

I first started reading the Kansas City Star back when they put out two daily papers:  In the morning, The Kansas City Times; in the evening, the Kansas City Star.  Along about the sixth grade, some teacher challenged us to find articles in newspapers or magazines that contained any of  the weekly vocabulary words we were given. That must be about the time I discovered Ann Landers and Dear Abby, which kept me coming back for more.  At least that's how I think it happened, but maybe not, because I was the type of kid to read cereal boxes, the Bible, and everything in between.  Maybe I just picked up a newspaper one day and started reading the headlines.  I do know that by the time we lived in Crestview, a housing addition in Kansas City's northland, my mom was subscribing to the newspaper mainly for my benefit.

 When I was almost 13 years old, in 1957, the big Ruskin Heights tornado came along; I recall taking the paper to school with me to pass around.  I still recall some of the pictures displayed in that paper.

Thanks to the public library, I can read any issue of the Kansas City Star (and Times) ever printed

However it began, I eventually found life without a newspaper didn't suit me.  When Cliff and I got our first computer in 1998, I still subscribed to the Kansas City Star, but after awhile I noticed I wasn't reading it much.  I could just do a search about whatever I wanted to know and get my answer.  I dropped our subscription.  Once in awhile there'd be a fantastic deal on subscriptions; I'd give it another try, but the only thing I usually looked at by then was the crossword puzzle.  I watched the paper shrink, losing pages, advertisers, and subscribers.  At some point nobody wanted to deliver newspapers to rural areas, so even with a subscription you might not get it your paper delivered half the time.  Besides, the Internet had me in its clutches.  Who needs a newspaper these days?

When I got a library card from Mid-Continent Library a few years ago, I began to explore all the benefits of the Public Library and found out I could actually read the latest issue of the Kansas City Star every morning.  It took some getting used to, because it's a photographic image of the entire paper, so you navigate pages in a different way than you would with a newspaper in your hands.  I've conquered that situation, and I must say, reading a newspaper is the best way to get the news.  You don't have to listen to dozens of commercials; you don't see all the "fake news" on Facebook.  Nobody is arguing.  I often just look at what's on the front page, finish up on page 11B or wherever I'm taken, and stop at that... but I'm not angry when I finish reading, because the style of writing isn't argumentative; I know the Star has always favored the liberal side of things, but I don't see them bashing the opposing side to the extent that online and television news do.  I read this morning about what President's Trump's advisors are telling him: some are encouraging him to accept defeat gracefully and others like his plan to demand a recount.  Every time I've turned to CNN, the only topic has been Donald Trump and what crazy things he's done; I don't need them to tell me about this President.      

All the craziness on Facebook during the presidential campaign has made me HATE Facebook.  I wish I could bring myself to abandon it.  My sister, who will be 93 in November, has never had Internet and firmly tells folks she doesn't want it.  I envy her.  I wouldn't give up Internet willingly, but I'm thinking more and more about leaving Facebook for good.  All my relatives have telephones if they want to tell me something, and a few of them read my blog and keep up with what I'm doing.  So it isn't like I'd be getting completely out of touch with them.  I don't like talking on the phone a lot, but that's because of those people who hang on saying nothing, waiting for me to come up with something to talk about.  It's hard to try and make small talk for an hour.  

On a lighter note, we have been having unbelievable weather with highs at 70 and above.  That's supposed to end after today, but it's that time of year.  Winter will fly past; spring will return and we'll forget winter for awhile.  It's beginning to look like Coronavirus isn't going to ever go away; we're just going to have to learn to live with it.  That's another thing I read about this morning in the Star.  Who'd have thought last March that the Virus would still be around with Thanksgiving approaching?  What a strange time we are living in.  What a strange year!

Keep a stiff upper lips, people!  It isn't over yet, so batten down the hatches. (I looked up that phrase after typing it, to make sure I was using it correctly.)