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Eb Griper’s problems with robo calls

The prevailing image of Ebeneezer Griper in my mind is a grumpy old man frowning as he reads his daily newspaper. The other day I ran into him frowning at his cell phone. It was at Eb’s favorite coffee shop. I had stopped in for a cup o’ joe and saw him sitting in his favorite booth at the back of the shop. “Where’s your newspaper?” I asked as I slid into the booth. Eb looked up with an even deeper frown. “Who can read a newspaper when your cellphone rings all the time?” Eb grumbled. “Women looking for a good time, I assume.” “You ain’t funny, fat ...

Early open water panfish

Many of the places where we go fishing across the Midwest are free of ice, or, with some warmer temperatures, wind, rain, or thunder, they will soon be ice-free. For those of us that are looking forward to getting back to open-water fishing, that means it’s time to get the panfish gear ...

Catching walleyes on jigs

Many walleye anglers consider early spring to be their favorite time of year to chase their favorite fish. Rivers across walleye country, and many lakes and reservoirs in the same region, are seeing lots of anglers after walleyes. There are some states or areas where walleye season is ...

White coat anxiety and a man who suffers from it

When I was a kid ̶ like 5 or 6 years old ̶ I was afraid of physicians and the things they did to little boys like me. When getting my pre-school vaccinations I jerked away so badly the needle of the hypodermic syringe bent. As the doctor very carefully withdrew the bent needle from my arm I got a scolding for my anxiety-driven reflex. When a second-grade classmate was diagnosed with a serious illness, the rest of us had to get vaccinations. Standing in line in the school lunchroom with my classmates, I was dreading the painful stab of a needle. It was even worse when I ...

Sitting at the piano with Grandma

If you’re like me, little did you know that this Friday is World Piano Day. It’s a day all about the history and love of the piano. What I read is that the focus is on classical music that’s played on a piano on this special day. So that’s one way to celebrate, but I think about the piano lessons I took while I was growing up. Maybe endured would be a better term. Because my grandmother was a piano teacher, I started with lessons from her before I even started school. I don’t remember ever telling anyone that I wanted to learn to play, but there I was on the bench ...

Hamilton “The Community”

“Territory folks should stick together, territory folks should all be pals.” So goes a line from Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic musical Oklahoma. Those born after 1985 may need to Google that. This is a phrase you will here from me over and over from this day forward. It is a ...