Suzan Bellincampi
Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but Americans overwhelmingly (69 per cent) prefer red.
Pink comes in a distant second with 14 per cent, and white last with only 7 per cent. Don’t call up your hairdresser to make an appointment: these color choices have little to do with locks and everything to do with holiday custom.
While it is always good to endeavor to see the forest through the trees, sometimes you just see the trees in the forest.
And that is okay if you are seeing and appreciating the beauty of the trees in winter. Without all of the trees’ green finery, you are left with sculptures in the woods.
Shapes, textures and bits of color stand out in the winter. Some trees become harder to identify, while other practically shout their identity.
The world around us is full of misnomers: hamburgers are not ham, tin foil is actually aluminum, and a shooting star is not a star. Nature has even more: koala bears are not bears, peanuts are not nuts, and a magpie is a bird, not a dessert.
This column is about a hornet that is not a hornet.
Bald-faced hornets are not true hornets. To call them hornets would be, well, a bald-faced lie. They are actually wasps, related to paper wasps and yellow jackets, and are identified by the white pattern on their face, if you cared to get that close.
“And now, here they are: the beetles!” (Insert soundtrack of hysterical screams.)
Don’t faint, and don’t expect to see Paul, Ringo, George, and John — the beetles that I am talking about are the ones you would have had a much better chance of seeing in the past few weeks.
I nominate cranberries for the best supporting role in a holiday dinner.
We all have baggage.
For some, it is plastic, but for others only paper or cloth will do. Those in the latter group must have appreciated Wednesday’s designation. In case you missed it, I’ll recycle the news. Nov. 14 was Reusable Bag Day in Massachusetts. I kid you not. This is official and important.