Those of Scottish heritage may know that last Monday, Jan. 25, was Burns Night, the celebration of 18th century Scottish poet and bard Robert Burns, whose most well-known ode is “Auld Lang Syne.” Burns also wrote a poem in 1785 titled “To a Mouse” after he accidently upended a field[Read More…]
Columns
Editor’s Column: Bad apples, and what to do about them
We’ve all heard the phrase, “one bad apple ruins the whole bunch.” It’s an old school idiom. (Like, really old school … Shakespearean, maybe even earlier.) Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanack” (circa 1736) put it this way: “The rotten apple spoils his companion.” In these days when we buy a[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Changing our minds
The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. ~ William blake Change is hard, and perhaps no kind of change is more difficult than that of changing our own minds. Our opinions are rooted in what we believe, and we are[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Don’t get ‘free speech’ and ‘free press’ confused
While everyone is up in arms about decisions made by Twitter, Facebook and other tech giants to delete accounts or remove apps, let’s take a peek back in time. The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. Within just a few years legal cases surrounding the interpretation of the amendments[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Maybe politics shouldn’t be a profit game
Anyone who thought politics was a slow-moving game, or dreadfully dull, has had that idea challenged this year. Now almost every political race is a neck-and-neck battle to the finish line (if a finish line can ever be agreed upon… how I miss those simpler times). It’s exciting when a[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Resolutions
MEEKER | Are you tired of making resolutions year after year, only to watch them fade away shortly after making them? According to a study done by social scientists, most of us are not tired of this tradition. The majority of us continue to try to make a new start[Read More…]
Loose Ends: “It is what it is”
MEEKER | “It is what it is” is the latest phrase to crop up in our daily conversations. It is an earworm without music. Most of us pride ourselves on “telling it like it is” and a few regions of our country are better at it than others. Westerners are[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Good Riddance, 2020
When the pandemic kicked off last spring I said I thought this event was going to leave a mark. Little did I know at that point how deep that mark would go. I’m chalking 2020 up as the second worst year of my life (second only because no one in[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: One Good Thing
This has been a year of unusual events. The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky for the first time since 1226 A.D., is just one of those events. From our perspective on Earth, the two visible planets look very much like an unusually large star, much like[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Just keep swimming
In the animated movie “Finding Nemo,” a clownfish (ironically named Marlin) and a regal blue tang fish set off on an improbable journey: to find Marlin’s missing son Nemo (also ironically named). Dory suffers from short-term memory loss, regularly becoming distracted and forgetting what she was doing, which creates all[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Stigma, snowflakes, and sensationalizing
Last week when I wrote about finding gratitude, I wasn’t expecting to be quite so tested by that notion. I’ll begin with this: I am profoundly grateful for and proud of our local law enforcement and EMS crew and dispatch. We had an upsetting Thanksgiving eve that ended with my[Read More…]
Loose Ends: It’s still about family
MEEKER | The real story of Thanksgiving is rooted in family. No matter what actually transpired between the Native American and the Europeans, who arrived on the shores of this New World, recognition of the importance of family and friends traditionally gathering is clear. No matter one’s material wealth, getting[Read More…]
