Springtime renders me temporarily insane. Year after year, I wake on a warm morning in April and imagine I’m young and energetic and full of tireless vigor. The beautiful weather puts impossib…
Don’t forget the Plymouth Circle Community Center (PCCC) Rummage and Bake Sale this Friday and Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. both days. The PCCC is just west of the Plymouth Square. The communi…
I’ve heard it said that “All wealth comes from the soil.” Sitting in my recliner in our living room (my favorite place in the house), looking through the picture window at the fields that surr…
It takes me about 10 minutes longer to read a magazine than it used to. Books, too. And newspapers with a lot of sections? I age just trying to get through one.
Saigon, now officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, has a metropolitan population of 12 million people, with six-to-seven million motor bikes, and few-and-far-between traffic lights. You won’t s…
Spring has arrived in Illinois. Am absolutely amazed at the sheer size of the farm equipment working the fields and attempting to travel down public highways. A lot of planting has taken place…
On an ordinary, carefully organized morning, I experienced a terror only 21st century humans can understand. The gnawing, tingling anxiety. The panic of possible consequences. The sheer helple…
On Monday evening, I attended the Lions Club meeting at Rudy’s in Augusta. I think it is a very worthwhile organization and my personal experience with it resulted from my father-in-law receiv…
The neurologist gave me the diagnosis I didn't want to hear: “severe idiopathic neuropathy.” I pretended to know what he meant. Ginnie, the lab-tech, told me later that “idiopathic” simply mea…
So, this is how it happens. There’s a slight whistling in your ears that doesn’t seem to go away. You get used to the wind tunnel you live in, only noticing the whir when things are really qui…
Today is Easter Sunday and this has been Easter week for all of us. There have been a few trials this week and holidays are often difficult for those who have lost family members or who have o…
Those who know me well know I have written some poems in my life. None of them are serious except one, “The Books of The Book of Books.” It’s about the books of the Bible, and was set to music…
My brother-in-law, Ron Whited, is the living definition of serendipity: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. It seems fitting that Ron is from Liber…
They stand at their window and watch squirrels romp and play in their yard. “Never have I seen so many squirrels!” Ivanna Zimroz, laughs. “Even the squirrels are happy here!” Her five kids clu…
When God created Mankind, he knew we’d need the basics. Food. Water. Shelter. He provided a lush garden to meet those needs. Then Adam took a nap, Eve was added to Eden, and Paradise was complete.
Well, I may have never been to Paris, France, but I did spend Friday and Saturday in Paris, Missouri. There is a very nice antique show at the Paris High School gym in March and as such it is …
There was a black and white day when television commercials provided little in the way of medical advice. We had a doctor. A mother. Grandma. We didn’t need help from our Zenith.
Today is St Patrick’s Day. If you have Irish heritage, hope it was a great day for you.
The year was 1984. People were wondering if George Orwell's predictions for the year would come true; in basketball, socks were up to the knees and shorts were nowhere near them; and Mt. Pleas…
We have many coffee cups. They’re all capable of holding liquids. All have a handle with a hole for digits, and they are various sizes and colors. Some have words on them: “World’s Best Grandp…
Daylight savings time– love it or hate it! We set our clocks ahead last night so got an hour less sleep before we got up for church. However, it was nice to have an extra hour of light tonight…
Like master, like dog. I have lipomas all over my body. Especially on my forearms. They’re embarrassing. I think I have them on my forearms because of all the knocks and bruises I took playing…
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Hancock County Journal-Pilot or its staff.
There is a drive-thru restaurant on nearly every block in town, and their calories are turning me into a Weeble. I think I’m addicted to ordering most anything I’m craving from speakers attach…
Tonight, there was a magnificent sunset. I was driving when the “sweet time” hit, so I just pulled over and parked. It is amazing what a few minutes of just stopping and taking advantage of Go…
Maple Hill, the home I grew up in, is featured in the Interstate 80 rest area in Jasper County, Iowa! I couldn’t believe it. I stopped at the rest area before I reached Newton, Iowa. I was goi…
Our country is having a senior moment. We’re all focused on age and how it affects our ability to function as a productive member of society. Particularly, the emphasis is falling to whether o…
The Western Illinois Museum held an open house today, Sunday. I attended for several reasons. First the building that now houses the museum was the first location of Gentry-Bryant Ford when th…
“Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.” D.H. Lawrence
(Colleen Armstrong from Burlington, Iowa, was a student in my Creative Writing class. She wrote the following powerful story about her struggle with cancer.)
Mom called us into the kitchen on a dreary, boring winter day. My brothers and I emerged from our staked-out territories– after days inside, we wanted space– and slunk toward her voice.
With spring coming soon, there are several events coming to the area. There will be a fundraiser for medical bills for Donnie Switzer on March 16 at 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Plymouth.
When I was young, everybody knew how to win a man’s heart. My mother, like everybody else’s mother, told me that men loved a good meal. So I always asked my date to take me to a fancy restaura…
This is the week we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Two years ago, I wrote a column on Love. I think that it is good to be reminded of Love more than once a year, but perhaps it is especially impor…
There are 100 cookies with Shirley Madden’s picture on them in the freezer at Sunrise Terrace Care Center in Winfield, Iowa, waiting for her extra-special birthday party on Valentine’s Day. Sh…
When I married my high school sweetheart in the early ‘70s, Mom gave me a book of easy recipes that were as familiar as her smile. While she was not a gourmet cook, Mom knew how to feed a big …
A friend and a cousin are in hospice care. Lost another high school classmate this week. Life is fragile. Treasure each day.
The beeping of the vitals machine I was attached to was annoying. It started beeping when my pulse dropped below 40 beats per minute (normal is 60-100). I watched my pulse drop… 38… 32… 29. Pl…
It’s the perfect time to pay tribute to the humble sock. Can you imagine enduring the last few weeks without them?
Ron Hawn, from Ferguson, Iowa, near Marshalltown, wrote “The Watch” for my Creative Writing class. Ron is in his 80s. I couldn’t help but share it. It’s one of those God Wink stories.
To say that January has been a challenge would be a gross understatement. If memory serves correctly this all began about Jan. 10 when I cancelled a doctor’s appointment due to impending road …
I was at my chiropractor’s office, waiting in the private cubicle for a crack at my turn. After putting on the “Velcro in the back” gown, I glanced in the mirror on the wall to be sure my hair…
Have to keep telling myself that it is indeed Sunday and that I need to sit down and write this column. Cannot be Sunday as we did not have church for the second Sunday in a row and I did not …
In the 2022 NFL draft, quarterback Brock Purdy, from Iowa State University, was selected the very last pick– No. 262– by the San Francisco 49ers. The last pick of the NFL draft over the years …
It’s happening more and more now. My husband and I have reached the unenviable age that is marked by almost daily obituary notices of famous people who were a vicarious part of our own life story.
The winter storms are upon us. What’s the first thing people do when they know a winter storm is approaching? Run to the supermarket and get milk, bread and eggs. Why? I dunno. Are they going …
I’m really not afraid of many things, but below zero weather is one thing that I am afraid of. As a result, I try to keep pretty close tabs on the weather report when that is predicted. Saturd…
I woke up this morning– many did not. I woke up in America– not Ukraine, Israel or Palestine. I woke up in a warm home– many do not have a home. I woke up with electricity, running water and e…
Larry McMurtry might be my favorite author of all time. He wrote “Last Picture Show,” “Lonesome Dove” and a slew of other books, movie scripts and essays. So, when a new biography of him came …
“I’m going for a walk. Will you watch my phone?” John eyes his Samsung as if it’s a hand grenade whose pin is ready to dislodge.
