Within a matter of seconds this country’s sense of security was stolen last week, when two bombs tore through the heart of Boston on a day that was meant to celebrate not only the Patriot’s Day holiday but the accomplishments of some of the best athletes from around the world. For many, the blasts immediately harkened us back 12 years to that dark day on Sept. 11, when terrorists attacked us on native soil. On that day not only did those terrorists kill thousands — they made us feel vulnerable where once we had felt strong and invincible.

The educators of my youth really knew how to motivate. Here are a few things that they taught me.

Writing is not fun. We do it as punishment. How many times have I heard, “OK class, since we don’t seem to be able to settle down today we will all write a 500-word composition for tonight’s homework.” The subject matter was irrelevant.

Here we learned the agony of writer’s block. Knowing that we were being punished just made it more painful. Five-hundred words would take hours!

Pancakes served

On Sunday, April 21, the Amenia Fire Company held its monthly pancake breakfast. We were pleased to have a generous crowd on a chilly, but sunny day. We rely on the breakfasts to raise much-needed money for general operations and we always appreciate the support of the community throughout the year.

The breakfasts will be suspended for the summer season and we will see everyone when we return in September.

Facial hair is back in a big way among men. That is nothing new, but the time, effort and expense of looking so scruffy might surprise you.

Part of the problem with violence on American streets is that we all want someone — anyone — to do something about it.

We want laws — but that means someone has to enforce them.

We want restrictions — but that means giving up freedoms.

We want mental health checks — but that means creating a mental health net.

We want punishment — but that means funding lawyers and judges and prisons.

We want our culture to change — but that means compromise.

For many ordinary middle-class Americans it has come as something of a surprise to learn from recent business news reports that close to 40 percent of all stock trades on any given day now occur outside of official public exchanges such as the NYSE and the Nasdaq.