If you have every visited an onion farm you would know that, generally, there is not a smell of onion in the air. (This is not the case if the farm is growing fennel, when there is a definite licorice smell in the air.)

This came to mind as I listened to the US President's so-called State of the Union address to Congress yesterday. What I heard was not much about the state of the union, and more about how that man will try to fix his historical legacy. The talk after it did not mention this, but it did comment on how not everyone thought the speech hit the mark.

Go and read it: Lots about what needs to be done; not much about what is the state now or in the last year of the country and the people. I'll say it: It's kind of like thinking you're in an onion farm but really being in a fennel patch.

The other day, at a gathering of friends over coffee, one woman mentioned the Fog Index, a measure of how easy a piece of writing is to read. It gives a number that relates to the number of years a person needs to have spent at school to get the message at first reading. Bottom line: It measures big words and long sentences.

I just ran the State of the Union through the online software and it comes out at around 10.75 (years of school). Around 6,300 words. So, who was he speaking to? The ordinary American?

By the way, this piece comes out at around 7 3/4. And, I'm sorry if you are offended.

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Peter