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The older the violin …

As I entered the coffee shop I saw my cantankerous old buddy, Ebeneezer Griper, reading a news magazine. Eb was deeply absorbed, his wire rim reading glasses sitting at the end of his long, narrow nose. “What’s news this morning?” I inquired as I approached his table. Startled, Eb barked, “For cryin’ out loud, don’t sneak up on an old guy like that!” “Sorry,” I said as I pulled up a chair. “That must be a fascinating story. Have doctors discovered a cure for your orneriness?” Eb scowled and then held up his magazine, revealing a photograph of Miss ...

Phono fun all over again

As Julie’s family opened gifts on the most recent Christmas Eve I was delighted to watch 13-year-old granddaughter, Eliza, open her gift from us. She told Julie earlier in the year that she wanted a phonograph and two long-play albums for Christmas. Though I recognize that vinyl albums have enjoyed a revival in recent years it was fun to watch a young person excited over an actual phonograph and a couple of 33 rpm record albums. The scene brought back some happy memories. Until recently if you told an average 13-year-old that you enjoyed listening to some hot 45s on your hi-fi you ...

Eating like a buffalo

When my maternal grandfather came to the United States from Germany as a teenager, he brought along a treasure of adages in his native Low German. Some of those sayings are in rhyming verse; a few are a bit earthy. Most impart a gem of wisdom. Opa shared those bits of German horse sense and nonsense with his 12 children and over the years I enjoyed listening to my mother and aunts and uncles repeat those little Low German ditties. I understand the language well enough to get the gist of many of the sayings, though I often had to ask to have them repeated a few times. Other times I ...

A visit to the filling station

If you were educated in an Iowa school system in the 1950s you undoubtedly remember those little yellow dental cards. How could you forget? Early in the school year we were given a dental card in need of our dentist’s signature confirming that our teeth were in good shape. Of course, that often meant that we needed some dental work first. Our family struggled financially when I was a kid and there were some years when circumstances did not permit a visit to the dentist. However, we did get to the dentist when toothaches dictated. When we did return the signed card to our teacher, ...

A gentleman’s guide to Valentine’s Day gift giving

We’re in for a month of romance, folks. This February brings us Valentine’s Day and Leap Year Day to boot. As difficult as it may be to believe I am not, nor have I ever been, a Romeo. I do, however, have nearly 60 years of experience in this game and I would like to share what I have learned about romantic gift-giving. Just keep in mind that I have experienced failure. VALENTINE CARD: A carefully selected Valentine card is the first and most important component of a gentleman’s gift -giving plan. Most gals prefer a sensitive card but if you never say anything sweet or ...

Litchfield made ag equipment

The cold snap we had recently certainly caught me by surprise. It made me wonder what heating homes must have been like a hundred years ago. Being cooped up with the trusty laptop and internet unfazed by the frigid weather outside, I started to look and found … Lyman Litchfield was born ...