If you think of life as a game of tag, everyone should have a home base. Mine is a tiny office on the second floor of my house. It’s not much, but it’s so cozy and reassuring. I have a silver Hiram Scott College mug full of sharpened yellow pencils. Next to that is a …
Yesterday was not a good day. Here’s how it went. I come home from work with hardcopy pages for a book I’m writing. I have a great editor who has taken around 150 pages and used Post-it notes to tag areas for further development. This project is moving along ahead of …
It was a muggy July night in 1958 when I learned my life was about to change in a big way. I was walking back from playing basketball at Brookside Park in Ames, Iowa, and my Dad picked me up. Three blocks went by in silence. Then, about two blocks from home, my Dad said, …
Do you get confused between chores you have to do and chores you get to do? I do. An example: I’ve been charged with watering our 16 flower pots, which hang from trees and balconies around our house. During the heat of summer, it’s almost a daily job and takes nearly an …
When I was a kid in a small town, our streets were patrolled by a policeman, Officer Hogan. We neighborhood boys called him Hopper Copper because he walked with a limp from a World War II injury. We liked to keep him busy by playing little pranks. We’d swipe Christmas lights …
For several years, Sherry and I have enjoyed the company of Snoop, a gopher snake who looks like a huge rattler. When I first met Snoop, I nearly stepped on him – and he didn’t like it. He scared me silly. After my initial panic, Sherry and I observed that this mammoth snake …
I’m in my favorite store looking for a couple new pairs of pants. It isn’t a typical clothing store because it also sells fishing gear, golf clubs, batteries and a huge selection of lumber and fencing in the back. After strolling around for a while, I find the men’s pants. …
Today is my birthday. I’m turning 74, and I’m thankful. I’m a lucky guy. I have a family who loves me and accepts my peculiarities – most of the time. I’ve worked for the same spectacular company for over 30 years. My fellow employees allow me to tell stories during lunch …
So I’m minding my own business (watching a robin pull a worm out of the damp soil) and my wife, Sherry, says, “You should throw away your old pants.” I say, “My pants look as good as new, particularly my brown pair and the gray ones I bought on sale at Bledsoe’s.” …
Something else is growing old with me: the use of cash for buying stuff. I don’t care where I go to make purchases – I am the only one in line who jingles coins in my pocket and has dollar bills in my wallet. Everyone else whips out a debit or credit card and waits …