Fear is a dragon. For many it takes shape as public speaking, snakes, spiders and mysterious sounds, and for others the imagined actions of gargoyles and dragons. Confronting that dragon takes courage. Dr. Calvin Rooney knew something about this. A fictional character in Clive Cussler’s 1986 best-selling novel, “Cyclops,” the good doctor is on a […]
To Ponder
I Found a Treasure at St Vinnies for Only Eight Bucks
I grew up playing with and making model cars and airplanes. They all met their demise when I got my Red Ryder BB Gun . . . well, the gun and fire crackers. Model cars still attract me. I have a Ford Cobra that sits on my desk taunting me. It knows that even if […]
Across the Fence: A Magic Number
Carnival is over, Lent arrived with Ash Wednesday this week. People are giving up on habits – to probably take them up again after 40 days –, or they take on specific tasks – to give them up again after 40 days. But what is it with these 40 days? Of course, it has to […]
Please Stand By – Film Review
Wendy Welcott is a twenty-year-old woman with autism, a creative talent for writing, and a passion for the TV show Star Trek. She is like the motto of the U.S. Postal Service “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” She knows […]
Helen and My Black History Story
In grade school I can only remember one Black member of my classes. Her name was Virginia and we always stood next to each other for our class photo. We were the tallest in our classes. She was a bad reader, so I had no interest in her. Since February is Black History Month, I’ve […]
Letter: Bowed, But Not Broken
As the victim read her impact statement in the final stage of a sentencing, a young man in the courtroom bowed his head. His pencil rolled off his notepad and dropped to the floor. As new and inexperienced news reporter, his beat had been to report on crime, cops and courts. But not today; this […]
Valentine's Day Morning – February 14
I sat down at the breakfast table on Valentine morning and scowled at the window at the reflected person looking back at me with his sleep-tossed, creative Mohawk. Looking down I cut in half my Hillshire Farm thinly sliced ham, fried egg, grated Parmesan and bleu cheese curds with stone ground mustard on excellent seedy […]
Letter: The Key To Trust
The case of the Titanic illustrates how often failures result more from a succession of omissions and missteps than one big mess-up. Like the Titanic, the Clover Park School District Board of Directors is navigating treacherous waters and there have been recently what appear to be a succession of omissions and missteps. According to researchers, […]
Across the Fence: Wetlands
A friend of mine, Washington State author and artist Jennifer Chushcoff has written a beautiful book titled “Washington is Water”. Indeed, whenever I am on the road, I keep thinking she nailed it. And especially in the winter season. We are living on dripping wet lands in the western part of this state. Part of […]