“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several […]
It has been reported that Abe Lincoln once summed up his thoughts on trade by declaring, “I don’t know much about the tariff but I do know that if my wife buys her cloak in America, we get the money and the cloak, and that American labor is paid […]
“It is said that Wisdom lies in not seeing things, But seeing through things.” ~Manly P. Hall
Vision is an unfathomable gift in design and function. Just ask any person without the ability to see. Yet vision has an inescapable flaw, an inherent disability to those relying on sight to […]
We kept this big guy. Look at that face. How could we not? Mary calls him Happy. That’s fine for a house pet but not for a hunter. I’ll call him Happ when he’s in the field. It works.
I’m completely over the puppies-experience. By week two of eight, my decision-making paradigm was under major assault. In winter-time, one puppy can be a full-time job if your set up is flawed…eight puppies test the outer-limits of what’s humanly possible assuming hygiene and thoughtful care are […]
Our Labrador Sunny is with pups. This was intentional but we’re not in the breeder business. We wanted another dog to keep Sunny company now that Mary is getting back on her feet and ready to spend more time in the retail shops. It’s been a long season and we’re all looking forward to seeing […]
Someone once told me no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Think about it. Successful politicians mastered the counterfeit of empathy by kissing babies and patiently listening to hard luck stories from potential voters but they can’t fake the real thing for […]
“A house divided cannot stand…” ~Abraham Lincoln
“How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us.” ~Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~Martin Luther […]
I read the other day the difference between having cancer or not is just one radicalized cell…out of billions. Makes me rethink the microwave.
The difference between driving safely down the highway and a horrific head on collision is one ill-timed text or hot coffee spill. Maybe extra hot to […]
Life was not a valuable gift, but death was. Life was a fever-dream made up of joys embittered by sorrows, pleasure poisoned by pain; a dream that was a nightmare-confusion of spasmodic and fleeting delights, ecstasies, exultations, happinesses, interspersed with long-drawn miseries, griefs, perils, horrors, disappointments, defeats, humiliations, and […]
Editor’s Note: After learning about a proposed restaurant meals tax, (which the City Council has since axed) Michael served-up his thoughts on the matter…just in case the topic comes up again.
Once upon a time there was a community of neighborly animals living deep in the northwest Woods, far removed […]
I lost my patience the other evening. Patience and controlling the tongue are active, not passive. Patience is graduate level virtue not without personal cost and tamed tongues are essential to relationship, respect, and reconciliation.
Mary was out of town so I was dining alone. The restaurant was busy and […]
A couple thousand years ago, a contributing writer to the world’s best-selling book penned, “If any man thinks he knows anything, he knows not yet what he ought to know.” ¹ I think we’re learning that unfettered access to information is inversely proportional to knowing the truth about anything. […]
When good is called evil and evil is called good, moral relevancy is replaced by something else. In the 21st century, it is political correctness. Free speech in the public arena is now about silencing speech. That’s pretty warped but nothing novel. The free press has […]
There are moments in our kids’ lives, pivotal moments defining who they are and what they’re destined to be. Some twenty years ago, summer in Oregon came early. Our youngest was just a year old and headed back east with her mother. Mary was going to visit an elderly […]
When we sat down to prepare our trust and will arrangements, the estate planner asked how we wanted to structure the end of life details. This means death and burial instructions. The attorney said no detail is too small. They clearly didn’t know who they were talking to.
Mary said […]
Our grown daughter sent me this the other day. She said it reminded her of me…Love you, Dad! That’s pretty funny but not really. Her teen years were foggy days for me. I was sick as a dog for that particular time in space
We were blessed with a very beautiful daughter although I could make […]
Healing is a glimpse of heaven. Those sick, in pain or severely depressed can appreciate the depth of the metaphor. Spiritual life reveals much about what we don’t understand and the joy of heaven is real to those with faith to believe. In this world, however, there is […]
Last Christmas Eve was joyously spent at the Jacksonville Inn. A week later, our family celebrated at the Bella Union. Our grown kids look forward to this every homecoming because these places represent home to them. We have no memories of Jacksonville without Jerry Evans and Jerry Hayes and […]
I watched ESPN’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award presentation honoring Bruce Jenner. The Arthur Ashe Award is named after the iconic tennis star, a man of color in a once traditionally white sport. Arthur was a magnificent athlete and like Bruce found his identity on the courts of fierce competition […]
“I bring you good news which shall bring great joy to all people…”
Mary wasn’t dreaming when the words hit the woman-child like a thunderbolt. She could not be pregnant because she had never been with a boy that way. The only thing more surreal than the idea of […]
The tapestry of a man’s life is woven with many living threads but only a rare few actually color the soul. True friendship is purified by heat and pressure. The rest is recycled in the wisdom of choosing carefully those with whom we share our time. We’ve heard that […]
The city recently mailed out a notice to all merchants that city personnel can no longer spend any time collecting on slow-paying accounts, specifically business license and parking district participation fees. The fines for late payment will be assessed at or up to a thousand dollars per day as […]
This month next year, my lovely wife and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. That’s a quarter-century ago. It’s also the same year we started a life and business in Southern Oregon. As we grow older, more and more people ask us how we met, how we got started, how we made it all work.
Words are powerful. Words hold the course of life and death, redemption and judgment. Words are the molecular building blocks of creation and human interaction. Words seal transactions, heal transgressions and are more potent than destiny...
I’ve noticed that columns in the Review have become engagingly pithy and more personal. This is a very good thing...