Encouraging peonies
It’s time to plant (or transplant) peonies. Peonies should be planted about six weeks before the ground freezes. Early fall is perfect because it give…
Author: The Smart Reader Staff
Briefs and quick reads selected and edited by The Smart Reader's editorial team.
About the Rolex Awards
The Rolex Awards began in 1976, when the watchmaker created them to mark the 50th anniversary of its first waterproof wristwatch, the Oyster. Meant as…
The woman who saved a forest and its species
The Niger Delta red colobus monkey lives in a swamp so dense and remote that scientists did not formally describe it until 1993. By 2021,…
National Preparedness Month
How to get through a multi-day power outage It does not take a wildfire or a hurricane to leave a house dark for days. A…
Town’s mayor is a very good boy
The western Minnesota township of Cormorant, population about 1,400, has held honorary mayoral elections since 2014 — and a human has never won. The first…
What a kitchen fire spray can and can’t do
The little aerosol fire spray in the kitchen drawer may not last as long as homeowners expect. According to Consumer Reports, the cans carry only…
The best desk setup still can’t beat getting up
Even a perfectly arranged desk will not rescue a body that holds one position for hours. According to the Mayo Clinic, the most useful ergonomic…
When a child can’t see, they rarely say so
A child who needs glasses usually does not complain, because blurry vision is all they have ever known, and they assume everyone sees the world…
A German fan came for the World Cup and fell for Buc-ee’s
The world came to North America for soccer this summer. One German tourist stayed for the gas stations. A young fan known online as “Freddy…
This year’s fair food has gone gloriously off the rails
Somewhere between the Ferris wheel and the prize hogs, the American fair has become the place where dinner goes to lose its mind. Two exhibits…