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Catching walleyes on jigs

Many walleye anglers consider early spring to be their favorite time of year to chase their favorite fish. Rivers across walleye country, and many lakes and reservoirs in the same region, are seeing lots of anglers after walleyes. There are some states or areas where walleye season is ...

White coat anxiety and a man who suffers from it

When I was a kid ̶ like 5 or 6 years old ̶ I was afraid of physicians and the things they did to little boys like me. When getting my pre-school vaccinations I jerked away so badly the needle of the hypodermic syringe bent. As the doctor very carefully withdrew the bent needle from my arm I got a scolding for my anxiety-driven reflex. When a second-grade classmate was diagnosed with a serious illness, the rest of us had to get vaccinations. Standing in line in the school lunchroom with my classmates, I was dreading the painful stab of a needle. It was even worse when I ...

Sitting at the piano with Grandma

If you’re like me, little did you know that this Friday is World Piano Day. It’s a day all about the history and love of the piano. What I read is that the focus is on classical music that’s played on a piano on this special day. So that’s one way to celebrate, but I think about the piano lessons I took while I was growing up. Maybe endured would be a better term. Because my grandmother was a piano teacher, I started with lessons from her before I even started school. I don’t remember ever telling anyone that I wanted to learn to play, but there I was on the bench ...

Hamilton “The Community”

“Territory folks should stick together, territory folks should all be pals.” So goes a line from Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic musical Oklahoma. Those born after 1985 may need to Google that. This is a phrase you will here from me over and over from this day forward. It is a ...

Get ready for open water

The winter of 2019 appears to be winding down, at least a little bit. I’m guessing that I’ve got a couple more ice-fishing trips in me, but I can’t get out now, so I’m getting ready for open water. Here’s what I’m doing. I almost always start in my jig boxes. I’ve ...

Support is strong for music in schools

In case you didn't know, March is National Music in Our Schools Month. It started as just one day in 1973 March 1973 in one state (New York), and now it is recognized all over our country with special concerts and programs. In some places, those concerts are held outside of schools in public parks, concert halls, civic buildings, maybe even libraries and shopping malls. Two things come to mind when I consider music in our local schools. One is how well music programs are supported in schools in our area. It seems like the patrons of our school districts simply expect that ...