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Days of Brylcreem and narrow ties

When I was in the newspaper business I took pride in my photography. I could shoot traffic accident scenes, county fair animals, kids at play and football games; even decent mug shots. But I never mastered portraiture. Several of my friends and acquaintances are professional photographers and create excellent portraits. Four of them post some of their work on Facebook. This is the season for high school senior portraits and I am amazed at the quality and creativity of these photographers’ work. Numerous changes of wardrobe, multiple backgrounds, various poses; their photographs are ...

Ideas for ice-fishing success

In the northern regions of ice fishing country, anglers are starting to carefully venture onto the ice. In other areas, they’re keeping a close watch on ice conditions, anxiously waiting for enough ice to safely walk on. Ice anglers, like open water anglers, are always anxious for the first ...

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette

Back about the time I was preparing to make my world debut, Tex Williams was singing “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette).” Williams co-wrote the song along with Merle Travis and it became a big radio hit. While the lyrics comically grumbled about the hold that cigarettes had on one’s life, smoking was still a popular practice in the late 1940s. My father and many of my uncles smoked cigarettes when I was a kid. With four young sons looking up to him, however, Dad quit smoking cold turkey in 1959. By the time I became a teenager, smoking had become verboten in my family. ...

Walleye on spoons through the ice

Walleyes will respond to a number of different lure types under the ice, but they especially like to eat spoons. There are a bunch of different types of spoons available to walleye anglers. Although they may look similar, there are some differences, and there are a few things you should ...

Counting my blessings one-by-one

An old hymn tells us to “count your blessings; name them one-by-one…” Thanksgiving is coming and I’m working on my list. The late Southern politician Frank A. Clark wrote, “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” So what, specifically, am I thankful for this year? Well, the big four – family, home, faith and health ̶ certainly head the list. The loss of my bride of 42 years in early 2012 increased my appreciation of family. My two children took wonderful care of me in spite of their own ...

An early ice fishing trip

For many people across the Midwest who like to fish, we’re in that “in-between” season. Although open water fishing can still be very good, many anglers don’t participate in it. And there’s no ice or no safe ice yet, so we’re in between our fishing seasons. During this in between ...