Gallup Sun

Dear Editor,

79 years ago, during World War II, on June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian military forces combined to launch the largest amphibious invasion force ever assembled in world history.

Operation Overlord was the official codename for this Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Germany in Normandy, a region in the northwest corner of France about 185 miles across the English Channel from England. But the world has come to know this date as D-Day, the day the Allied forces took the battle directly to Germany—a little over four years after Germany invaded and then occupied France. The time had finally come to mount a major offensive to free France and drive the German...

g

It’s someone’s job to name new medications. Drug Company A approaches Marketing Company B and says, “Hey, we’ve got this new drug. It makes people happy in the short run, but they’ll still have to deal with all their baggage in the long run. And, boy, does it have a ton of side effects!”

Marketing Company B comes back with “Litotes: the medicine that makes your baggage feel lighter. May cause ironic understatements that convey affirmations by negating their opposites. Use as directed.”

Do I wish people paid me to come up with new medication names? Yes, I do. Did I just introduce today’s English language topic through a funny hypothetical situation? Also yes.

You...

Dear Editor,

79 years ago, during World War II, on June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian military forces combined to launch the largest amphibious invasion force ever assembled in world history.

Operation Overlord was the official codename for this Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Germany in Normandy, a region in the northwest corner of France about 185 miles across the English Channel from England. But the world has come to know this date as D-Day, the day the Allied forces took the battle directly to Germany—a little over four years after Germany invaded and then occupied France. The time had finally come to mount a major offensive to free France and drive the German...

As spring turns to summer, I love taking leisurely laps around my house to see what’s in bloom. Nearly every day, I find a new flower opening its doors for business to bees and butterflies.

Whether it’s the brilliant orange monarch butterfly larval host plant butterfly weed or the hummingbird magnet, rich ruby red royal catchfly, I can’t help but find my mouth agape at nature’s color wheel revealing itself day by day. I’m currently in awe of the pulchritudinous purple blooms of my current favorite native plant, wild lupine; they provide nectar and vital nutrients for bees, insects and hummingbirds alike.

Sorry to get so gushy about flowers, but native perennials are kind of...