Good character still counts

February 1, 2021

A conversation with a political candidate of my acquaintance nearly 25 years ago has rolled through my mind frequently in recent months. The candidate told me about a discussion he had with a student when speaking to a high school class a few days earlier. He said he and the class were discussing the issue of character and one of the students argued that a candidate’s character should not be an issue in an election. What matters, the student maintained, is how a politician performs; how well he or she does the job. One of the benefits of age is having had the opportunity to see ...

Birthdays just aren’t exciting anymore

January 25, 2021

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it was dark anyway. It was the night I was born many, MANY years ago. This is the week my personal calendar flips to new year. By the end of January I will be one year closer to my 100th birthday. I’m not planning a big celebration but I am grateful for another year. I figure after the Biblical “three score and ten” every year is a bonus. Of course, I remember nothing from my birth. My father told me it occurred at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday and mine was the cheapest of the seven maternity bills he paid. When my parents ...

An unforgettable friend

January 18, 2021

While I think of him often, at this time of year I think even more frequently of a friend, now deceased, who is unforgettable. Duane Gibson was the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Des Moines. During the 1990s I read about him in Des Moines Register stories about the extensive work of his congregation in meeting social needs in the community. Duane was instrumental in his congregation’s construction of two large homes for the elderly in downtown Des Moines. Fast forward to 2008 and I’m working for The Salvation Army in Des Moines. Duane’s name came up as a ...

Halfway through the ice-fishing season

January 12, 2021

Although it seems like it just started, in many areas across the ice-fishing belt, the ice fishing season is already at the midway point. In many places it’s been much warmer than usual, so travel on the ice has been limited. Despite that, there are lots of anglers on the ice, and numerous ...

If I were a carpenter

January 11, 2021

Where we live in the western suburbs of Des Moines there is building activity in all directions. The beautiful cornfield behind our house when we moved here nearly five years ago is now a new townhouse development. Some of the units show “sold” signs before they are completed. It has been interesting watching the progress of the development. Large tractors pulled heavy equipment over what looked like level land to make it more level. Then basements were dug and towering equipment pumped concrete into the foundation forms. Finally walls came up followed by roofs. The roofs ...

Fine tune for more walleyes

January 6, 2021

Avid ice angler John Crane and I talked on the phone recently. He has been doing a lot of ice fishing in his home area of north central Minnesota and on this particular day he had been after walleyes. After my usual questions of “wadja’ catch” and “wadja catch’em on”, the ...