(ARA) - At this time of year, many of us feel confined to our homes and trapped by bitter wind, biting cold and harsh weather. It's snowy, the days are shorter and we long for that time when we can be outdoors, digging in the dirt.

EACH member of an urban household uses at least 100 liters of water for drinking, washing and bathing. Of this volume, about 90 percent is disposed into the environment as wastewater (grey water).

Polk Community College art student Patty Lovell of Lakeland recently won the best of show award and a $750 prize at Arts on the Park. The winning piece is an acrylic painting titled Red Head and Friends. It features Lovell's koi and goldfish swimming in her backyard pond.

I have become my own life's hero. I have accomplished a feat so great, so bold, so mighty I no longer consider myself merely mortal. I have transcended this world into the ethereal sphere and conquered the foe heretofore deemed indomitable. I have removed the bench from the pond.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the $787 billion American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law sometime this week.