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Dating when you're old

Local Columns

My first wife, Cindy, and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in 2009 with a trip to Niagara Falls. It was an attempt to compensate for the low-budget honeymoon we experienced in 1969 when we were a pair of nearly broke newlyweds. The year 2009 was about the time that a few friends our age were going through life changes that involved dating. Cindy and I didn’t agree on everything but on this issue we were in lockstep thinking. We both agreed that we were happy we didn’t have to go through the process of dating again. We were happy being a predictable old married ...

The aroma of Independence Day on the farm

Local Columns

People who study those things tell us that the sense of smell is most closely related to our memory. An odor or fragrance can trigger a memory more quickly, they say, than sound, sight, touch or taste So it is with the smell of fireworks. For me, the first whiff of an exploding firecracker sets off a recall operation that brings back a host of memories of Fourth of July celebrations of long ago. Some of my favorite Fourth of July memories go back to the early and mid ’50s and to my paternal grandparents’ farm west of Titonka in northern Iowa’s Kossuth County. In a setting that ...

A different kind of history book

Local Columns

What’s hardbound, full of photographs and more embarrassing the older it gets? Your school yearbooks, of course. Can you believe that you ever looked like you do in your school yearbooks? Flat tops, DAs, “cat-eye” glasses, bee-hive hairdos. I came across my old high school yearbooks recently and enjoyed examining them once again. I pulled up a chair and spent the better part of an hour leafing through several years of memories. It’s difficult to believe that six decades have passed since those books were published. You know how gals will sometimes call a friend to ...

Who will put up these displays of our freedom in the future?

Letters to Editor

To the editor: My husband, granddaughter and I had the privilege to help take down the majestic display of flags in Graceland Cemetery last week. As we took a break, we asked if the volunteers were vets, and were told nearly all were Vietnam vets. These Vietnam Vets are supporting and honoring the WWII heroes that came before them by setting up/tearing down the flags, (which, btw, is an arduous task, even for 20 or so of us.) We asked if they get any younger vets to help with this endeavor and sadly they said no. This gave me pause ... Who will put up these stunning displays of ...

Alex Pruismann thanks voters for their support in the primary

Letters to Editor

To the editor and to the Citizens of Hamilton County: Thank you all so much. The dust has settled on the June 4th primary and the only words I can come up with to truly express my gratitude are “Thank You!” This campaign started on December 7th, 2023 and ever since that day, I’ve gotten so much support, encouragement, words of advice and love from the citizens of Hamilton County that it is truly humbling and overwhelming. It makes me even more excited and honored to be your next Sheriff and serve you to the best of my ability. This was just hurdle #1 for my campaign. Next will be ...

Unless you thought of it yourself

Local Columns

When I was about 11 years old I subscribed to Boy’s Life magazine, the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. I was not a member of the Boy Scouts but I enjoyed the magazine. It was on the Boy’s Life humor page that I was introduced to a Tom Swifty, which Merriam-Webster defines as “a play on words taking the form of a quotation ascribed to Tom and followed by an adverb.” An example of a Tom Swifty: “I lost my crutches,” said Tom lamely. Another: “The doctor had to remove my left ventricle,” said Tom half-heartedly. A few more for good measure: “I have a ...