Today's Opinions

I don't normally fret about writing columns, but this one has been tough. How, after all, do you adequately muster the words to pay fitting tribute to someone who has spent much of her life taking care of our most vulnerable children and their families?

For more than a decade, Mary Simmons directed the Dorman Center, a special day care for at-risk children. If you had to make a list of some of life's toughest assignments, that job would be right near the top.

The woman’s phone message was clear and strong and, as is the case with many of its ilk, absent of name, number or even e-mail address:

“Your paper put an endorsement of Barack Obama on the front page. You should have put an endorsement of John McCain on the front page.”

She didn’t elaborate. Her point and reasoning were understandable, and there was no problem with her vitriol.

But her perceptions were more than a little hazy.

I've followed the All-America Selections for as long as I can remember. It was always a designation that my father trusted, and we often trialed the plants in our own family garden the year before their introduction.

Some of the more memorable plants include "Purple Wave" petunia, "Magestic Giants" pansy mix, and the "Profusion" zinnias.

Sure, there were memorable vegetables in the past, but it seems as though the AAS is responding to the increase in vegetable gardening interest by including more vegetables then ever each year.