Ralph Gardner Jr.

This year’s Christmas tree didn’t survive as long as those in years past. What we’ve discovered is that tying them to the roof of the car and careening for a couple of hours down the Taconic State Parkway — a trauma-inducing ride under any circumstances — isn’t good for the sprig’s psychological or physical health.

It’s not every day that I’ll spend close to forty bucks on a lightbulb. But the LED spotlight I bought at Lowe’s a few years back made extraordinary claims.

A holiday season “evergreen,” a story that you can roll out year after year, at least during these tumultuous times, involves political differences among friends and family members and tips on how to defuse or avoid them.

One of my holiday rituals is to visit Myers of Keswick for stocking stuffers. The Greenwich Village store is filled with British specialty items. No nonsense Frank Cooper’s orange marmalade.

When New York State instituted its single use plastic carryout bag ban in 2020 I was all for it, for both fashion and environmental reasons.

As if I needed further excuses not to finish the family memoir that I’ve been working on for years here comes Google Lens.

When you get married it doesn’t occur to you, at least it didn’t occur to me, you’re not just marrying your spouse but also your spouse’s family. Fortunately, I liked them and they seemed to like me.

The news has been all bad lately. I’m referring to the news about consuming alcohol. Turns out that many of those stories over the years about drinking in moderation being good for you were underwritten by the spirits industry.

What do you visualize when you think of a mushroom farm? You probably don’t, at least I didn’t, until a few weeks ago because I didn’t realize that mushroom farming was a thing.

If you want to know what’s wrong with civilization look no further than forest bathing.