April 17, 2021
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – The First Amendment to the United States Constitution In
As 2021 got underway, ice encased every tree branch and blade of prairie grass at Boomerang Creek. Housebound, Kit and I gathered in front of the Buck stove and reflected on times when self-reliance and family got us through hard times. Memories of a January past resurfaced—one when ice came a calling in the night,
While many people were nursing hangovers on January 1st, I was busy snuggling with my grandbaby, watching college football, and enjoying my fourth consecutive hangover-free New Year’s Day. It was the best New Year’s ever. In “Once in a Lifetime” by The Talking Heads, David Byrne sang, “And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did
Well before the first hint of dawn, I listen to the sounds our house makes in the night. The whirring of an overhead fan. The purring of a portable air purifier. And just barely audible, radio voices on KBIA, programmed to connect us automatically at 5:30 a.m. to NPR and the world. Click. The thermostat
My singular New Year’s resolution going into 2020 was to enjoy as many live music concerts as possible. Long before I accepted a one-year contract to be the Music teacher at SoBoCo Primary School in 2019, music had been a big part of my life. When I was young, a million years ago, I played
The first day of winter 2020 arrived with promise. Venus and Mars twinkled over our neighbor’s cow pasture as the flock still dozed, eagerly awaiting the approach of a four-wheeler with pre-dawn lights on—their sign that hay would soon arrive and be spread out in a tidy line from a roller on the back of
After I sold my beautiful 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air nearly two years ago, in order to buy a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD equipped with a powerful Duramax diesel engine perfect for towing our family’s camping trailer, I began searching for another classic almost immediately. I am beyond thrilled to tell you that last weekend,
After days of grey skies and intermittent rain, the predawn sky is once again filled with stars as Kit and I set off on our morning walk. The thermometer on the porch is fixed on twenty-two degrees. Frozen like the grass that crunches under our feet It is so dark and the air so cold
For the last two months, I have had the pleasure of teaching a remarkable group of kindergarteners while their amazing teacher, Jasmine Rustemeyer, was out on maternity leave following the birth of her beautiful, twin girls. Unfortunately, with the sudden and necessary closure of the Southern Boone Primary School building due to staffing issues caused
In this year of pandemic self-isolation, those of us who love cooking and enjoy a bottle of fine wine with a meal have become ever more epicurious. Family recipes are being prepared again, especially during the holidays, along with new dishes from sources like The New York Times weekly food columns by Sam Sifton. Closer
