Sit right down and write a letter

January 21, 2026

Back in 1935 when Fats Waller recorded “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Right Myself a Letter” he had no idea that the written letter, a common means of communication for centuries, would be an endangered art form 90 years later. You don’t think so? How many handwritten personal letters have you received in the past week compared to, say, 40 years ago? Do you have an up-to-date postal mailing address book? I don’t. E-mail, text messaging and cheap long-distance calls have nearly eliminated handwritten letters. In my case, the exception to e-mail was an occasional letter to ...

The gift of music

January 16, 2026

It was a pleasure to sit in the school board meeting this past week and listen to the members applauding the efforts of the high school music instructors, Kaitlyn Abens, the high school band instructor and Aaron McCullough who is in charge of the vocal music department. This week, there was a post on social media with this message: You don't have to choose. You can do sports. You can do extracurriculars. You can participate in community activities. You can have a job. And you can do band while you do it. If you've ever had the desire to learn an instrument, join band. If your ...

Oom-pah-pah

January 12, 2026

Though I regret the embarrassment this may cause my loved ones, I must make a confession: I love polkas. In my youth, polkas were considered “square.” Today’s young folks might call them “dorky” or “pathetic” or another term of derision. After years of trying to hide my attraction to the happy tunes from Europe, however, I must come clean, square, dorky, pathetic or otherwise. My affinity for polkas apparently took root 75 years ago on a farm in northern Iowa’s Kossuth County. My earliest memories of my grandfather’s dairy barn include an old wood cabinet radio ...

Old bones, old homes all have value

January 9, 2026

Last week, a historic home had to be torn down in Webster City. It was a sad day. I had spent time socially in that house nearly 30 years ago, and loved the people who lived there. It’s not that people didn’t try to save it. But once a house is abandoned or neglected, it’s hard to make up for the years of neglect. Sounds almost like relationships. House ownership has a cost that doesn't stop when you pay the mortgage. Whether your home was built last year or 150 years ago, daily, monthly, yearly maintenance is essential. It can be a losing battle when the repairs outpace the ...

Readin’, writin’, ’rithmetic …

January 5, 2026

Some time back I saw a bumper sticker that read, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” I quietly mumbled, “Amen.” The bumper sticker brought back memories of a host of teachers and the influence they had on my life. I used to tease my kids that I was so smart I needed only nine weeks of kindergarten. The fact is, I’m so old that kindergarten was still a relatively new-fangled concept when I was a youngster. My school experience began in March (many years ago) with a nine-week (all-day) kindergarten class. Our kindergarten teacher worked hard to prepare us for first ...

Filling the big shoes

January 2, 2026

It’s a new year, and it’s a year with changes already. At the end of 2025, we saw the retirement of the Daily Freeman Journal publisher Terry Christensen, and the retirement of the Daily Freeman-Journal editor, Jane Curtis. We saw the hiring of our publisher Grant Gibbons. And then we have me. Officially, I’m stepping up with a new title as community editor. Unofficially, I’m filling the big shoes left by Jane Curtis. At least in some ways. I can't be Jane; I've watched her off and on my whole life. We are not the same, yet we have many similar experiences. Jane is my ...