PinnedThe Price We Pay for Not Paying for NewsIt’s interesting how many businesses and products have disappeared during my lifetime. Video stores. Typewriters. Pay phones and land lines. Yellow pages. Paper maps. Encyclopedias. Repair shops for most anything smaller than a car. It’s all disposable now. And then there are the businesses that have become a fraction of…Newspapers4 min readNewspapers4 min read
1 day agoWhen It’s Okay To QuitI recently stumbled across an interesting story attributed to Kurt Vonnegut. Although I couldn’t verify it was truly from him, it was the content I liked more than the source. Basically, when Vonnegut was 15 years old, he was part of a group of youths working at an archeological dig…Parenting Advice3 min readParenting Advice3 min read
Nov 26Getting Our Kitten a CatThis isn’t the first time I got a pet for a pet. I once got Chewie for Murry (both dogs) Ethel for Lucy (both rats). Stu for Winnie (rabbits). And now, Wednesday for Ripley (cats). The kitten who recently joined our family is incredibly high energy. I’ve had dogs get…Cats3 min readCats3 min read
Nov 26From Railroad Town to Hallmark TownIt sounds like the premise for Hallmark holiday fare. Three days before Christmas, the woman leaves the big city for a quaint little town we’ll call Hinton. …West Virginia6 min readWest Virginia6 min read
Oct 16The Shaping of CharacterWhile at my brother’s house last weekend, I was searching through some old columns, trying to find a story involving my youngest niece that I wrote 20-some years ago. During my search, I stumbled across a different piece first — a column about having witnessed the shaping of another person’s…Parenting4 min readParenting4 min read
Oct 1Handicapping ButterfliesHow the long-term effect of trophies-for-every-kid is starting to show I don’t know when the every-kid-deserves-a-trophy movement got started, but it seemed well established by the time my daughter, who is now 26, started school. It made sense for schools to insist on having Valentines for all students; showed compassion…Parenting3 min readParenting3 min read
Sep 25The Purpose of RepurposingCannibalizing our old building to fix our old building “How close are you and Don to opening the doors at your warehouse?” I’m often asked by those who rather adorably believe us capable of the same work speed as those on HGTV. My answer: We’re closer than last year, but…Repurposing4 min readRepurposing4 min read
Sep 16Thank You Very MulchIt’s the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Thank you very mulch. Thank you very mulch. It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Those aren’t typos. That’s how the lyrics have been playing in my head for the past several days, after a bizarre…Romantic4 min readRomantic4 min read
Sep 1459 CandlesThe birthday I just celebrated has me at the tail end of my fifties. It doesn’t feel possible to have this many candles on my cake when I’m still so immature. Yet sometimes, when I stand, my body cracks like a glowstick, although it refuses to actually glow. …Aging3 min readAging3 min read
Sep 4Member-onlyWhen One Door Closes, Another Door Opens — and a kitten walks through itIn July, our squirrel decided it was time to set out on his own. Rudy had left us before for days at a time, but he always returned. This time, he didn’t. Not even a postcard or text. After a few weeks, we put away his toys and dismantled some…Kittens3 min readKittens3 min read
