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Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette

Local Columns

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

Local Columns

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

Local Columns

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

Local Columns

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 ...

Eb Griper’s prepares for a procedure

Local Columns

Eb Griper was a vision of melancholy. There he sat in the coffee shop booth ­— three-day beard, striped bib overalls and head in hands. I had never seen my cantankerous old buddy look so gloomy. “You look like you lost your last friend,” I remarked as I slipped into the opposite seat. Eb scowled and made an unintelligible grunt. “What’s wrong, old fella?” I asked. “I’ve never seen you so forlorn.” “Just came from the doctor’s office,” Eb finally volunteered. “Oh!” I was reluctant to ask but I did: “Bad news?” “Yep.” “I’m sorry, Eb. If you ...

Simply speaking and speaking simply

Local Columns

A lifelong Midwesterner, I enjoy the simple and earthy language of rural America. We generally get right to the point and use unpretentious, expressive ways to get there. Linguists ascribe titles to the various methods we employ in our communication: aphorisms, axioms, proverbs, epigrams, maxims, etc. I’m not much concerned with what they are called; I simply like the way they communicate. Many of the humble and colorful phrases we hear in rural America came across the ocean with our immigrant ancestors. Growing up in an East Frisian family, I heard a number of Low German aphorisms ...