The county fair is a rite of passage for the summer, and I can’t think of anything that is more Americana. It harkens back to a day when counties were predominantly rural. Local farmers brought their very best calves, pigs, and chickens to be judged. Others showcased their produce or… Continue reading
These words sound like an oxymoron. How can you give what you did not receive? To understand, we need to look back into our formative years. Our parents got some things right, but they also got some things wrong. There were gaps in our parenting, maybe some gaping holes. Maybe… Continue reading
I am a southerner at heart. Maybe, even a beach bum. Though we have spent most of our lives in northwestern Missouri, central Illinois, and especially northeastern Illinois, near Lake Michigan on the Wisconsin state line, we love the south and have visited many times. Now we live here. Don’t… Continue reading
Keeping our lives balanced is a bit like standing on one foot (which requires balance of a different kind). It’s hard to do for very long. Life throws things at us that draw our attention away from the safeguards and healthy habits that we build into our lives. When things… Continue reading
Two very strange things happened in the last few days. A Democratic Socialist was sworn in as mayor of New York City and the United States invaded another sovereign nation capturing its leader to face justice in the U.S. These are unusual events to say the least and they are… Continue reading
Here it is: the big flip of the page to 2026. It’s that golden opportunity to reflect on 2025 and to aspire for a better 2026. The trick is combining those noble aspirations with the crush of reality for a hopeful way forward. But let’s be honest, somewhere about mid-January… Continue reading
Since this post seemed to several people last year, I am reposting it here. Christmas 1981 The news hit us hard. Everything in our busy lives faded from our minds as our thoughts were consumed with one new haunting fact. Patty had a large tumor that required a hysterectomy. She was… Continue reading
We just returned home from spending a weekend in Nashville, our third trip, but our first concert. I am not a big city guy, but I like to go and see the things the city offers and then head back to my cozy home in the Cumberlands of East Tennessee…. Continue reading
It was a pretty fall day, and I had made a vow to myself and my wife to get out and explore our new home, i.e., the Cumberland Mountains. Somewhere in my internet searches for interesting attractions, I ran across Elrod Falls. It was forty-two miles away. Was it worth… Continue reading
By the time you read this I suspect that a short-term compromise has finally been reached to fund the government. But as I write, the federal government has been shut down for Forty-four days. It is the longest shutdown in history. Unfortunately, it is not an isolated event, but it is… Continue reading
I am not from here. About a quarter of my life was spent in northwest Missouri having grown up in St. Joseph. After that we moved to a bedroom town near Kansas City, Missouri (and I can’t help but remain a Chiefs’ fan). Lastly, we wound up in Illinois. First… Continue reading
There must be a little dirt in my blood, more specially, clay. It sounds like a cardiovascular nightmare, but the point is I have always liked dirt track racing. When I was a kid, my parents frequented the local track at a nearby town in Northwest Missouri. When we moved… Continue reading
I got my first Tennessee speeding ticket yesterday. I was doing 73 in a 55 zone on 25E south of town. It’s my wife’s fault for buying a red car. I like my seat back and my steering wheel low. Unfortunately, the wheel position obscured the speedometer. On my car… Continue reading
Sometimes writers change things, like names and details. They do it to keep from offending people and to keep from being sued. Occasionally, it is essentially to protect the guilty. I am going to tell you a story that is true in its intent, but not in its details. A… Continue reading
Twenty-seven years ago, we needed to relocate to accommodate my mother-in-law who was moving in with us. By then we had lived in the far north suburbs of Chicago for about five years. We had narrowed down our potential home to one of three options. I am sitting in the… Continue reading
Kenosha, Wisconsin is ten minutes from our home in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois. Since Winthrop Harbor is a bedroom town to Chicago, it has limited offerings for shopping and dining. So, Kenosha has been “our city” for nearly thirty years. Kenosha (“Keno”) was a manufacturing and shipping center and, in the… Continue reading
I am not a game person. They seem like a waste of mental energy and pointless competition. But I have some exceptions. I like the interaction that games encourage. You get to let your hair down and have some fun with people. Scrabble has some appeal because at least you… Continue reading
One of the most dangerous things in life is having nothing to do. I bring up the topic because we are in a bit of a waiting period right now. We have been talking about moving south for several years, but we never found anything that we both liked and… Continue reading
Hi there. This post is a little different. I am tipping my hand a bit by letting you know how I feel about something of which there are serious differences of opinion. These days most everything has been made political with extreme opinions ruling the day. Your civil, well-reasoned comments… Continue reading
This post has nothing to do with atmospheric conditions or skin care. It is a reflection about our trips around the sun. Tomorrow I will celebrate 71 of them. I am not fishing for birthday wishes of happiness and joy (though always appreciated). Rather, I am using it as an… Continue reading
I had planned to write a tribute to my Chiefs while basking in the warm glow of victory. Instead, I am writing to process my grief. I never really thought about the Chiefs losing after their victorious season of generally doing just enough to win game after game. I didn’t… Continue reading
It’s time for us to do a final clean out of our house before we meet with our realtor March 1st and put our home of twenty-five years on the market in early April. Fortunately, we also did some of this last fall knowing this time was coming. We have gotten… Continue reading
You get off to such a fine start. With Thanksgiving and Christmas, that first snowfall is a work of art. But you overstay your welcome as your beauty quickly fades into a massive filthy slushy and white glaze of salt. Your refreshing chill turns bitter, and you must be removed,… Continue reading
I watched the inauguration of President Trump, and I am brimming with reaction, but I am not going to write about it. If I did, a bunch of you would brand me as an enemy or, at least, a poor, misguided soul. You would probably delete me as a Facebook… Continue reading
Welcome to day one of 2025. Every day of this entire year is “yet to be determined.” I have a sense of excitement at the beginning of every year. There are new things I want to explore, new disciplines I want to acquire, and some crappy things I want to… Continue reading
Christmas 1981 The news hit us hard. Everything in our busy lives faded from our minds as our thoughts were consumed with one new haunting fact. Patty had a large tumor that required a hysterectomy. She was twenty-five. We got married very young. Patty was only eighteen. I was all… Continue reading
When I pray and when I think, I tend to labor over what is wrong, what needs to be fixed. These are the black specks on the blank piece of white paper. I focus on what’s wrong with other people and especially what’s wrong with me, and, of course, what’s… Continue reading
Finally, a little time to think, and pray. God made an unassuming entrance into our little world. The creator became the creation. You would think his entrance would have been grandiose. Instead, it was humiliating. He was born into a blue color, working class family. It was a really bad… Continue reading
He was a comedian that played a teacher on a TV show whose character went on tirade about corruption in the country’s government. The tirade went viral on social media, and he was elected president of the country. That was a TV show. Now that same actor/comedian is the actual… Continue reading
I was tired. Really tired! I might even have experienced heat exhaustion. Anyway, it was hot, ninety-five degrees to be exact, and I was exhausted. Moving dirt, laying sod and pushing a lawn roller filled with water is hard work even when it is not scorching. But I feel fulfilled… Continue reading
We should have known Poised, ready to pounce Shocked by the audacity Grieved by the brutality This living room war This you tube terror These people like us All we do is discuss As we watch at a safe distance. Every night bloody bodies Scores, hundreds, thousands Soldiers, mothers, children … Continue reading
Or is exclusive. And is inclusive. Or makes enemies. And makes friends. Or gets its way or blocks the way. And gives a little, learns a lot, and finds a way. Or vilifies. And reaches out. Or believes it has the truth. And believes there is more to learn. Or is a false… Continue reading
I have lived through so many international conflicts. The Cuban Missile Crisis – Even as a small child, I understood the threat of Russian supplied ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads ninety miles from our shore. The Cold War – In school we had drills in which we went to the… Continue reading
She looks so much like us. Except she is not trying to decide where the family is going out to eat tonight or what they are going to watch on their streaming TV service. Instead, she shelters in a basement, overcrowded, with no bathrooms, and enough food for only one… Continue reading
A few years ago, I was having some back pain, so the doctor ordered some x-rays. A couple of days later someone from his office who was probably about the age of my favorite sweater called to inform I had osteo arthritis. I was taken aback by this news and… Continue reading
From the archives. This snowy winter day seemed like a good time to remember a warmer, more hospitable time and place. The Gulf of Mexico makes a great backyard, though it’s a lot different than life on the Wisconsin/Illinois border near the perpetual chill of Lake Michigan. Palm trees replaced… Continue reading
Sunday, June 20th, 2021, was a good day. It was after all, Father’s Day. Later in the day we were going over to my son’s for one our raucous family gatherings. So, I had time to hang my new backyard party lights, but soon things took a sudden turn south. … Continue reading
The Christmas Letter is something I don’t recall ever coming across until we moved to this area about twenty-five years ago. It basically is a way to stay in touch with folks we have encountered through our life and relay to them on what has been happening over the last… Continue reading
You don’t have to be a democrat or republican, conservative, or liberal. Don’t be deceived into thinking the only choices are one or the other. You could choose both, or neither. You could be a lot one and little the other, or a little bit of each. You be could… Continue reading
Here I am in my happy spot again on this tropical, secluded southwest Florida island on the Gulf of Mexico. I lived most of my life thinking I would never have an opportunity like this, even once. So, coming here for the sixth time in about a dozen years is… Continue reading
It doesn’t feel like Christmas to me. It’s hard to say why, since emotions can be hard to figure out, but it is safe to say some of these things have had an effect on me an many others. Covid has cancelled all festive events; for many it has had… Continue reading
Every year when Christmas rolls around, I feel like I should feel something; something warm and cozy that evokes a sense of joy, gratitude, and peace. Usually, things are just too busy for me to get around to that until very late in the season. There are those moments late… Continue reading
I am looking at the edges of the earth. My panoramic view is so spectacular that it is rounded off at the edges. Even better, it’s the Gulf of Mexico. Better yet, I am sitting on the patio of the villa we have rented for the week. The warm Gulf… Continue reading
Hey ya’ll! Yes, that is a southern greeting! And yes, I am in the south. The southern portion of the Appalachians in Northern Georgia, more particularly, the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. When I say I am in the mountains, I mean I am in the midst of a majestic mountain… Continue reading
Kenosha, Wisconsin (pop.100,164, about 150,000 with suburbs)) is our nearest city at about 10 minutes away. We are there several times a week. It was a manufacturing city that has successfully re-invented itself as a distribution center and tourist destination. It’s growing. The downtown is rapidly redeveloping and the Lake… Continue reading
I’m a t-shirt, shorts, flip flop, beach sort of guy who likes it toasty outside and air-conditioned inside. This summer has miraculously come through. That’s downright rare to have consistently warm weather here in the upper Midwest on the shores of Lake Michigan. What a wonderful gift in the midst… Continue reading
We just wished America a happy birthday. She is a magnificent lady, but she is starting to show her age. There are a few tell-tale signs that everything is not working as good as it used to. It is one of those concerns that I would like to address today…. Continue reading
It’s an oxymoron. How can you be social and distant? Do social media and technology finally attain a higher purpose? Perhaps, though they have so many limitations. There is no substitute for physical proximity and eye-to-eye contact. Social distancing is an odd term. Very clear and very imperative in one… Continue reading
“Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.” – ancient Chinese proverb This is the post that I have been wanting (and dreading) to write for months. It violates that age-old admonishment to avoid discussing religion and politics. If fact, they may be the two most… Continue reading
The more I heard of Senator McCain’s story, the starker the contrasts became between the man who tried to become president and one who is president. One was born into a family of service with a glowing history of military careers. The other was born into a life of privilege… Continue reading
