Learning to navigate this new realm of virtual meetings has been interesting. You’ve probably heard the horror stories about people in Zoom work meetings who’ve been exposed (literally) not wearing pants, or the middle-aged female politician who changed her shirt while the camera was on, not realizing she was flashing[Read More…]
Columns
Loose Ends: Go forth, graduates!
Now that our local graduation has been held in a unique 2020 fashion, the efforts by the local school district to hold an actual ceremony demonstrated the RE-1 District’s dedication to recognizing the efforts of the students, as well as their families, to finish 12 years of schooling. Like most[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The blame game
We’re blamers. It’s what we do. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent. Cain blamed Abel and committed the first murder. The smallest child, when asked, “did you do this?” will shake his or her head and point at a sibling or the dog or the notorious “Nobody.” Ask anyone[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Distance
“Remember to give them their distance all the time.” was the caption below the picture of a mother bear and her cubs in a recent edition of this newspaper. Those among us, who spend their daily lives up in the high country, never take the need for distance for granted.[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Adapting is key to survival
I have vague recollections of high school biology that involve discussions around how species that faced extinction and survived did so through the process of adaptation. While this new iteration of coronavirus isn’t likely to cause the extinction of mankind, we are going to have to adapt to living around[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Sacrifices made should inspire us
[responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=”Listen to this”] As we prepare to observe Memorial Day, perhaps this year we’ll be less distracted by backyard barbecues and beer and give the day the somber consideration it deserves. For 244 years Americans have sacrificed to defend our country, and our allies. Some have[Read More…]
LOOSE ENDS: ‘Sorry, Wrong Number’
“Sorry, wrong number” is not a message one hears often these days, unless a local directory has listed someone’s else’s phone number in its place. While some of us still keep a landline, there are growing numbers who have reverted to only to a cell phone. A few years ago[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: A little validation goes a long way
[responsivevoice voice=”US English Female” buttontext=”Listen to this”] This week marks the 197th issue published under Solas (which means “light” in Irish Gaelic) Publications, Inc. That’s 197 weeks of tracking down news, finding reporters to cover stories, sitting through meetings, taking pictures and videos, updating the website, building ads, selling ads,[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Stranger than fiction
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” ~ Mark Twain, “Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World.” If that doesn’t sum up current events, I don’t know what does. From the price of a barrel of oil dropping[Read More…]
Loose Ends: One big potluck supper
MEEKER | I occasionally view my life as one big potluck supper. It wasn’t only the main dish and the sides that made these memorable, it was the variety of friends and neighbors who gathered together and took time to see each other during busy times. In the midwest, potlucks[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Beans, beans and more beans!
MEEKER | This was standard fare out on the ranch or on the range, and usually included quite a few variations by using up whatever was handy in the larder. Facing our bare cupboards these days, many of us find enough fixins’ for an old Dutch oven dinner not simmered[Read More…]
Loose Ends: Learning from Max
RBC | You know things are going downhill quickly when you find yourself hiding from the dog. Everywhere we go, inside and out, he has to go too. He is suddenly needy. He isn’t used to our being inside the confines of home, all day, everyday-neither are we. Our chocolate[Read More…]