Some students have a knack of seeking, even at times demanding, special attention from their professors, advisers, mentors. With their own special ways, whims, attitudes, demeanor or even, at times, by annoyance, they end up occupying a special place in their targeted audiences’ hearts.

Ms. Vanessa Thomas was one among them. However, unlike many others who try to get my attention, she grabbed my attention inadvertently. During all these years, whenever she needed my help, she asked straightforwardly, and as soon as she received it, she thanked me and proceeded on with her work. She had a no-nonsense attitude: Dash in, say “Hi,” while signing-in, and then occupy any available computer and stay for hours, if required to complete her assignments, and then dash out after a quick sign-out and a “goodbye.” Not rude but her stubborn attitude toward getting her work done to her satisfaction made me pay a little more attention to her.

WASHINGTON — No force on Earth can stop Sarah Palin from becoming our very own “lite” version of Eva Peron — a glamorous and tragic legend, minus the tragedy. Eventually, some clever composer will write a blockbuster musical about her life and times. Stage directions will include: “SARAH fires gun. MOOSE dies.”

It’s futile to try to ignore Palin, however noble the effort may be.

There’s a disturbing trend among our female callers, especially the ones who sound like they may be a little … uh, older.

I hate to say old ladies are becoming rude. So let’s just say that old ladies are becoming “rhymes with dude.” And believe me, there are a lot more words I can rhyme with.

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection and appreciation. Things could always be better, but they could also be worse. We are so blessed in this country that sometimes we let great expectations interfere with our happiness.

Although we would all be overjoyed to win the lottery, it will not happen to most of us, so it’s better to have more realistic dreams. Happiness comes from inside and feeling good about what you do have and being grateful for what you don’t have.

It’s a great time for taking walks! I took a walk this morning and was reminded why I have always been thankful that I live in the temperate zone where there are four distinct seasons. The trees were ablaze in the early morning sun, with autumn’s magnificent blend of orange, red and gold, and my hooded parka was just right for enjoying the refreshing coolness without getting chilled. I can live nicely without the sweltering and unending heat of the tropics! After once experiencing the restful beauty, cool and calm of autumn, how could anyone want to live anywhere else?

The special time that I love most of all is “Indian summer.” The first cold spell of the fall signifying the change of seasons makes me — and many people — long for Indian summer. So what exactly is Indian summer? Some say that true Indian summer is a period of abnormally warm weather following the first killing freeze of autumn. A killing freeze occurs when the overnight temperature reaches 28 degrees of cold … and may or may not occur with frost. Indian summer typically occurs in mid to late autumn and can occur more than once.

When my granddaughter spent the evening with me a few weeks ago, I told her the story of the Gingerbread Man, as was told to me by my mother years ago.

Every time we made gingerbread cookies, she told us children about the old farmer’s wife who, to her surprise, made a gingerbread man who came to life and lead everyone in the countryside on a wild chase, singing, “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me — I’m the Gingerbread Man.”

If you are having difficulty understanding health care reform, you are not alone. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was asked why he did not include health care reform in his New Deal Programs (1933-1936) to speed economic recovery during the Great Depression, he responded: “Because I can’t explain it.” Therefore, if FDR could not explain it, you the reader and I should not feel bad about not being able to explain it either!

Some people already have health care insurance, such as senior citizens who have Medicare beginning at age 65 and children ages 1 to 19 who have the Children’s Health Insurance Program, better known as CHIPS. This leaves folks who are ages 21 to 64 years of age. For those who have full-time employment, medical insurance may be offered by the employer. However, fewer companies are offering insurance because of the expense involved. And those companies that do offer medical insurance are increasing their premiums to a point where it is not affordable any more.

If a good hunt for you requires these: waking up at 5:30 a.m., shivering through a pick-up breakfast and hurrying countryside to meet your gang by six-thirty, a pheasant shoot may not be your ticket.

The place is Aberdeen, South Dakota; the time, 10 a.m. Eighteen Orangeburg-connected men have had a late, quiet sleep, then chewed through breakfast abundance from fresh fruit to second coffees. Among them are Braxton Wannamaker, who organized the trip, Bert Gue, Frances Faulling, Jimmie Terry, Thomas Richardson, Jim Wells, Rick Williamson and Wayne Chestnut. They have flown to Chicago, then to Fargo, N.D. and driven to an Aberdeen motel.

Adapted from a column of Jan. 11, 2009.

Anyone who has ever watched the movie “Ghost” with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore can probably see right now in their minds the opening scene in which the two are molding pottery while the haunting tune “Unchained Melody” plays in the background. The song has been sung by many artists, but it is most often associated with the Righteous Brothers. One of the lines says, “Time goes by so slowly …”

I wish it did. My father-in-law, who lived to be 96 years old, warned me that there would come a time when one day blurred into another, then one week into another, one month into another and finally one year into another without even an awareness that time was passing not so slowly but so quickly. He was a wise man — a wise man that lived a long time.

What do you do with the plethora of fallen leaves in your yard? That probably depends on several factors: whether you live in town or in the country, whether you do your own yard work or pay someone else to and whether you realize the potential all those leaves have as either mulch or as a compost ingredient.

If you are in an urban area, your city or town may have a fall leaf collection in place. If so, you are lucky. Leaves piled or bagged by the curb are hauled off to become a main ingredient in a gigantic compost pile instead of heading for the landfill. A well-run program will then make rich compost available to residents, usually for a small fee.