It’s estimated that 45% of eligible American men served in the military during the Second World War; another 35% worked in industries directly tied to the war effort. In the Civil War, about 48% of northern men were in the Union Army and more than 90% of southern men served the ...
A colleague at the Sioux City Journal 40 years ago was a native of Oklahoma. Our offices were adjacent and we got to know each other well. I enjoyed his Oklahoma idioms and his Okie drawl. One of his frequently used phrases was “useta-could” as in “I useta-could eat a whole bowl of okra all by myself.” He loved fried okra and even tried to grow okra in his South Sioux City garden. While it’s been more than 20 years since I last visited with my old friend, I still find myself occasionally using his Oklahoma “useta-could.” As I get older the phrase becomes more and more ...
A few weeks past I read of the upcoming construction of a new Kwik Star on the west side of town. I am a student of “rabbit trails” (as you’d know if you’ve heard me present a talk on a subject). The article was about the demolition of the former Naden Industries building. I’ve sat ...
One thing aging does for a man is help him understand life’s deeper issues a little better. Take funerals, for instance. As a younger man I thought funerals were just an expensive tradition — overdone sentimentalism. Now a septuagenarian, I more deeply appreciate our society’s funeral customs and what they do for the survivors. My views on funerals have been shaped over many years, going way back to childhood. I consider myself fortunate that my parents believed children had a place at some funerals. I was 6 years old when a 3-year-old cousin drowned in a stock tank on his ...
Republicans in the Iowa House hate government freebies. Unless it’s their corporate friends who get them. The latest evidence of this hypocrisy is the effort to kill a central Iowa program and prevent others like it that are aimed at helping poor people. UpLift is a test program in central Iowa that gives $500 per month to 110 individuals who live with at least one dependent up to the age of 25 and who have a median household income of only $24,000 a year. The program is partially funded by using federal funds awarded to the cities of Des Moines and Urbandale, and it is part of ...
I’ll be the first to admit I sometimes have issues with too many choices. I love living in this country, though it can be tough selecting the “right” toothpaste or deodorant. When my wife and I moved to Webster City, I thought everything would just naturally fall into place. Smaller ...
