Welcome to my blog
Once upon a time, I was a newspaper columnist with weekly columns in the local newspaper. (I may have even won an award or two for my writing.) Now, more than a decade out of the newspaper industry, those columns were just sitting on a thumb drive in my closet. I'm not sure if anyone wants to read them anymore, but I thought I'd put them out into the world just in case.
On this website, you'll find my favorite columns from my 8 years in the newspaper industry. I'll publish a couple a week to get them out there. If you're lucky (and I'm inspired), I may write something new too! Stay tuned.
All columns were originally published in the Dickinson County News between 2001 and 2009.
From the column archives...
Fall reflections
I love the fall. With the first official day of fall coming next week, I’m starting to get excited. And although it’s not official for a few more days, the chilly weather this month has me bundled up in sweaters and looking forward to the days of changing leaves and drives through the country. Fall…
Detours
A stubborn driver never obeys a detour sign. Yeah, I know. All of you highly responsible adults are now shaking your heads, and all the obedient youth are shunning me for giving them a bad name. But social responsibility must be put aside in this column to truly make a point. I’ll admit those signs…
Thinking of starfish
It never fails, just when I’ve begun to forget that cute little story about the starfish, someone decides I need to be reminded. You know the one. A boy is walking along on a beach, picking up starfish one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean when someone comes by and says, “Boy, why are you bothering to do that, there are way too many of them. You can’t really make a difference.”
Fruitful Friendships
Everybody deserves at least one fruitful friendship. No, I don’t mean the kind of friend that brings you apple crisp or the neighbor who shares his strawberry crop. Although those friendships are well-appreciated and special, I’m talking about fruitful in a different sense. I’m talking about the kind of friend who makes you better, where…
Keeping my feet on the ground
Airplanes and elevators have several things in common. Probably the most obvious likeness is that they both go up and down, transporting us to destinations that would otherwise take a much greater amount of time. But for me, there is another overpowering similarity – both make me lose track of where I am. When my…
A fresh look
Sometimes it saddens me to admit it, but I don’t get to spend a lot of time with kids these days. I’ve no children of my own at this point, and there are no little ones in my immediate family (yet). I don’t often encounter the joys that young people can bring into the most…
I thought of you the other day
I thought of you the other day as I walked along. I remembered your smile when we first met – the way the corners of your lips turned ever so slightly when you gave me your name and tried to pronounce my own. I remember the light in your eyes when you spoke of your…
Someday Isle
“Have any of you ever heard of Someday Isle?” asked songwriter and author Douglas Wood at the Little Swan Lake Winery last weekend. Although they didn’t realized it yet, nearly everyone in the cozy audience learned they’d spent some time at Someday Isle. It’s an interesting place – or more like a state of mind.…
Shoe full of slush
It’s happening – same as it does every year. Snow is melting, brown weathered grass is creeping into sight, I’ve got a shoe full of slush – and I’m smiling.
Are we windows?
I was reading an excerpt from a Dale Carnegie book the other night that shed new light on a familiar idea. It was, as usual, one particular quote that caught my attention: “A good window does not call attention to itself. It merely lets in the light. A good speaker is like that.”