I was standing in line at Dollar Tree. I had two packages of razors, a whiskbroom wannabe, and a three-pack of tooth brushes and a candy bar. The woman in front of me was dithering and fumbling. While she dithered the check-out lady tried to get one earring to fit inside the piercing. I tried […]
To Ponder
Letter: When You Can No Longer See, Remember What Was Said
Down feathers swirled and billowed in the rear view mirror, an instant summer snow storm behind our green Volkswagen bug. We were setting off on our honeymoon a half-century ago, going camping in the far northern wilderness reaches of Canada. The trunk had come open and our pillows flew out on either side, and there […]
Let’s Talk! – Call of the Wild
Have you settled in comfortably, all screens off, to ponder another prompt which Tyrean Martinsson’s book gives us for today? You might expect me to go for the obvious, Jack London’s novel The Call of the Wild, the story about a pampered dog that gets stolen, sold, abused, and freed, eventually to find out that […]
The Giver – Lakewood Playhouse Theatre Review
In the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” the song “At the Ballet” repeats the phrase “It wasn’t Paradise, but it was home.” I found myself singing or at least humming that tune all the way from Lakewood to North Tacoma after seeing “The Giver” at Lakewood Playhouse. The Utopian life style perhaps never tried for […]
Across the Fence: Sitzfleisch
The German language has a lot more humorous expressions than most people credit the “people of the poets and philosophers” for. Here’s one of those that has made it into the English language in its abstract meaning: Sitzfleisch (pronounce: ‘zits-flie-sh). It literally means flesh to sit on and describes a specific human body part, namely […]
Letter: Valentine’s Day for Many Is A Day of Broken Hearts
You see them everywhere today. On this special day of heart-shaped ballons and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, couples stroll hand-in-hand, couples sit gazing at one another over candlelight, couples on social media post their photos proclaiming their years of love for one another, and even shy highschoolers cast loving glances then quickly look away hoping […]
I Support Clover Park School District
Submitted by Eddie Johnson. I have worked with adolescents for over 20 years in various roles in multiple cities, communities and states. I have found Clover Park School District (CPSD) and its leadership to be one of the best school districts working towards the health of the whole student. From those in the district office, […]
Active Duty Veterans 1st Responders AVF Team 1
In 1958 my parents bought a seven-cabin motel in Ponders Corner. It was the closest motel to Fort Lewis. Many of our customers were soldiers who were brand new to the area and often had their entire families with them. We enjoyed talking with them and listening to their stories. I sometimes played chess with […]
Letter: I Laughed So Hard It Hurt
We gathered last evening for our weekly dinner together, as many of our family as could make it. Slightly less than 11 months ago we had all been here bedside in the family room to say a most tearful goodbye to my wife of 50 years, mother of four, grandmother of 10. There in the […]