On Tuesday, the FBI requested help from those citizens present at the Boston Marathon when two explosions rocked the street, killing three and wounding more than 100, asking for any relevant photographs or video that might provide a clue as to the person or persons responsible...

Gun violence is in all the news these days. The tragedy at Sandy Hook is the latest atrocity that claimed too many lives, both young and old, but Dylan Quick's attack at Lone Star Community College in Cypress, Texas, with a box cutter knife of all things, makes it plain that guns aren't the problem, and never have been...

Most people don't know that I have quite a temper. I do my level best to stay on an even keel, with family, with co-workers, with store clerks and even with telephone solicitors. My dad, you see, had a terrible temper. And we never knew what would set him off. ...

If our weather ever settles down into spring, I'm planning some changes. When we bought our home in 2003, one of the first things we noted was that the covered, wrap-around porch is perfect for a swing. Ten years later, that's definitely on the list...

A news story in the San Francisco Business Times reveals that Americans are less religious than ever. According to the story, researchers noted that in 1972, only 5 percent of Americans said they had no affiliation with an organized religion. The number jumped to 8 percent in 1990, and more than doubled to 20 percent in 2012. ...

I have been accused of being a "Pollyanna" more than once in my life, as if that was a bad thing. Pollyanna, you may recall, believed that hope held is hope fulfilled, and that hope shared is hope doubled, not halved. But where does hope come from? You can't buy it at the local discount store, saving by buying in bulk. ...

BooBoo Kitty was crestfallen Sunday to see that his position as comforter had been usurped by LilBit, when I fell victim to a stomach flu. I seldom nap on the sofa in the living room -- bedrooms are made for sleeping, not sofas. But when I'm ailing, I'll grab a pillow and blanket, and tuck in. ...

The story of the prodigal son offers a unique perspective of God as Father, waiting at the gate for his rebellious son to return to his senses. When the son, after squandering his inheritance, now hungry enough to envy the pigs their slop -- finally hungry enough to be humble -- returns home, his father throws a party...

I love my slippers -- and almost think I could train LilBit to fetch them for me at day's end. I won't even try though. He loves it when I put on my "walking shoes" and seems to understand that we're done walking for the day when the slippers are on. He'd probably do it, he loves to please, but he would do it grudgingly...

Alcoholics Anonymous created a relatively safe environment for those who had fallen victim to a cruel taskmaster; a slave driver; a heart breaker; the demon rum; to find freedom from that curse. (I have other names, but they simply aren't suitable for a family newspaper.)...

I was just getting ready to heat leftovers for dinner last week when LilBit pranced into the living room, tail wagging, eyes smiling, a bright yellow tennis ball in his mouth, and Danny and I looked at each other and exclaimed in unison, "He's a dog!"...

I recently discovered a new identity. Apparently, I'm a "get-byer." The law of averages indicates that you, too, are most likely, a "get-byer." We have our place in the culture -- supporting the economy by earning a wage and expending those wages in the marketplace. And, according to the writer, that's pretty much our entire reason for being. The "get-byer" designation is one of only three possibilities, the writer states. The other choices are "doers" or "slackers." Class warfare, anyone?...

We are absolutely loving our new (old) stereo phonograph. As long as we avoid mirrors, it's a lot like time travel, to hear the songs of our youth coming through the speakers. Singing along, I am reminded at how deeply music becomes ingrained in our minds. ...

They didn't know us from Adam. We were just the latest of many families to sojourn for a season on Capitol Hill, a well-integrated inner-city neighborhood adjacent to City Park, the Denver Zoo and the Museum of Natural History. Admission was free to these attractions and we frequently walked through the marble halls at the museum and through the animal exhibits at the Zoo. I liked the aviary best...

The headline caught my eye: "The Blessings of Atheism." What could those blessings be? I wondered as I clicked on the link and proceeded to read the op-ed piece from the New York Times written by Susan Jacoby, author of the forthcoming book "The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought."...

"This is a test." The phrase is often heard in the walls of Castle Cribbs -- when there's more money than month, when the phone doesn't ring, or rings in the middle of the night, or when our pleas seem to fall on deaf ears. A particularly trying time came upon Danny in mid-summer and the phrase, so frequently at the front of his mind as his world contracts, just wasn't cutting it. ...

I was so sure the Mayans were right, I spent my last day on Earth cleaning cabinets and mopping floors. No, I'm not a compulsive housekeeper, bent on entering eternity only after completing every task perfectly. I spent the day that way because it was the last official day of my two-week vacation and I didn't dare waste it...

Summery Saturday mornings in the 1980s were spent power-walking, with all three kids in tow, through a Denver flea market at 88th and I-76. It started small, but as the years went by, more and more vendors set up shop, hoping to turn trash into treasure...

We received a Thanksgiving surprise Sunday evening when the elder of my two younger brothers, Dave, and his wife of 37 years, Joyce, appeared at our back door. We hadn't seen Dave and Joyce for several years -- another quick visit before they traveled to the Mayo Clinic searching to discover what ailed my little brother. (Little is a bit of a misnomer, Dave is well over six feet tall.)...

The turkey is completely defrosted, nestled safely on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. The ingredients for stuffing are set aside, and even though it'll be just Danny and me for Thanksgiving dinner again this year, I'll polish up two place settings of my mom's china, and double Danny's dish duty by putting each menu item in its own serving container. ...

There they were, again, on the evening news. Bad news, of course. News exacerbated by the fact that people have needlessly died and others continue to suffer, needlessly, because this company -- entrusted to supply vital medicines -- failed at nearly every level of production to ensure the safety of their patients, already beset by serious health issues...

"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." ― Leo Tolstoy...

In the grand scheme of things, my world is pretty small and it's getting smaller every day. In less than two years, we've had to say good-bye to four good friends, and are still getting used to the idea that Mom has gone on. Our lives and our world are diminished by their passing. Our hearts, however, are enlarged with treasured memories, now that they are free of their jars of clay...

Indian Summer has fallen on the Golden Plains, providing brilliant blue as the backdrop for the vibrant colors of fall, warm daytime temperatures and a decided lack of winter's chill through the overnight hours. What a glorious time of year. According to the weather forecast, it's almost over. ...

The view from my desk has improved dramatically. No, they still don't let me sit near a window. I'm too easily enthralled by nature's daily dance -- whether sun-drenched, rain-swept, or covered in a thick layer of God's pristine white -- that I would never get each day's myriad tasks completed in time for the press run if they did...

I thought I outgrew my impulsive nature years ago. I was wrong. In the days immediately following the death of my mother-in-law, as we processed our loss, we realized that the loss, keen as it is for us, is keener still for those for whom Mom was part of the fabric of their every day lives...

Here is the story. This is exactly how it happened. Or is it? One of the most unique attributes of the human mind is the power of perception. Two people, four, or more, at the same place, at the same time, tell two, four, or more, differing stories about the same event...

Although I did find myself using many of the parenting tools my parents employed when raising me, there were exceptions. The shame game was one of them, as was the "why can't you be more like..." gambit. Name-calling also was taboo. Another technique I eschewed was the oft-applied "'fess up or you all pay."...

As a child, preteen and teenager, when I read, I read rapidly. I never knew when Dad would grow weary of seeing me with my nose in a book and snatch the book out of my hands. Usually, I could pick up where I left off, but if I had been particularly "distanced" the book would disappear and I would never know how it ended...

This week marks my 15th year in the McCook Daily Gazette newsroom. To say that I was a "cub reporter" when I first walked through the door would be a gross overstatement. As it was 15 years ago, there are eight desks in the newsroom, assembled in two groups of four, each desk designated for specific daily duties: city desk, local desk, feature desk, sports desk, etc. The newsroom is a beehive of activity on an ordinary day. There are some days, however, that are anything but ordinary...

I grew up with an insatiable appetite for words. In an effort to satisfy that hunger, I read everything, and I mean absolutely everything I could get my hands on, including items I had no business reading during my tender years, or adult years for that matter...

My new letter-writing campaign is paying dividends in a big way. Not everyone likes writing letters, but almost to a man, everyone loves getting letters written especially to them. I have enjoyed several lengthy phone conversations from recipients who do not care to write, but do care to keep in touch, in response to my missives...

My traditions are disappearing, one by one, and I'm sorry to see them go. For years, the Fourth of July belonged to us. Fireworks were popping all day long, Danny leading the pack. Fire up the grill, make Mom's potato salad, slice the tomatoes thick, and wait for night to fall. ...

The Affordable Care Act's requirement that every policy issued for health care include coverage for contraception has become a lightning rod for conservative Christians, and with almost one voice, they have cried, "Foul!" Not so fast. This is not our fight, and to take up the standard against such a requirement is the height of hypocrisy, and shames the Name of the One we purport to follow...

I was on the phone with my mother-in-law a few weeks back. A long-time friend and neighbor whose health has been a concern for years, had suffered some setbacks and the prognosis wasn't good. I called Mom to see if she'd had any word on his condition and was pleasantly surprised to hear that Mike had rallied yet again. As we talked, we acknowledged that the reprieve was temporary. In fact, mere weeks later, Mike died...

The summer of 1971 is memorable simply because that's the year my great adventure with Danny began. Since we were all of 15, lived 18 miles apart across the center of the metropolitan Denver area, and weren't yet eligible for the "privilege" of driving in the great state of Colorado, a lot of our early courting took place over the telephone. ...

James warned the first generation of believers in James 2:19 that even the demons believe, "and tremble." Those of this generation -- 2,000 years in the making yet just as new to faith as was that first generation -- also must give heed to his warning and discover what lies beyond simple belief...

Jobs in Worland, Wyoming were scarce in 1975. But, since we had (deservedly) been exiled to that small town in north central Wyoming, jobs were what we needed. We found lodging at the Cook Hotel, long gone now, for the princely sum of $17.85 per week. It was a simple bedroom, with a shared bath down the hall. I made Danny stand guard whenever I was in the tub. The television was in the lobby and the walls were paper-thin. But it was shelter from the storm and we were grateful...

I love birds. I love their songs in the morning and their lullabies at night. I love to watch the soaring hawks and eagles and I delight in translating their busy chatter as they go about their daily bird business. I learned to speak bird from the bird family that built their nest in the drive-through window at a Brighton, Colorado bank. ...

As my 100+ Facebook friends may or may not know, I've said good-bye to Facebook. (My posts disappeared when I did.) Facebook proved to be too much of a gossip fest and I've seen too many hearts broken by careless comments. Also, the whole "de-friending" issue is problematic. I'm not much for slamming doors, at least not since I slammed one in anger many years ago. (The slam was insufficient to the anger level and the next thing I knew, I had ripped the door completely off its hinges.)...

Our recent heat wave is reminiscent of 2002, a broiling summer that saw temperatures in the high 90s most days, and for 34 days, in excess of 100 degrees.That figure tied the record for the most days over 100 degrees in a season, set in the early 1930s. (Some records should never be broken.) Couple the high temperatures with the dearth of precipitation and we may be looking at a summer-long storm that will exhaust community resources and test the mettle of every man...

I have always had a sweet tooth. Oh, I can't eat an entire stack of restaurant pancakes anymore, my tummy can't take all that sugar, but I confess that I treat myself to something sweet on a daily basis. Growing up, we only had candy in the house at Halloween and Easter. ...

Our Colorado girls are due in next week. They had their choice of when to come, as long as it didn't interfere with church camp and other family celebrations, and they chose the first full week of their summer vacation. We can't wait. We spent the three-day holiday weekend feathering our nest, clean linens and shiny floors all ready to get mussed up, fussed up and used up in the coming days...

I walked to our back door April 27, parted the curtains in the window, and as I peered out into our driveway, I burst into tears. I made my way into the living room, and fell into Danny's arms, sobbing, "I don't want my BooBoo Kitty to be dead!" "Neither do I," he replied, choking back his own tears...

Holidays irk me. Especially those so cleverly managed by Madison Avenue it's sacrilege to miss them. Apparently, Mother's Day took in an average of $172 per mom this year. So to my dear mother-in-law, "Sorry Mom, once again, we come in well below average."...

The last high school graduation I attended, when someone I knew and loved had donned the hard-earned cap and gown, was some years back. And in those long-gone yesteryears, I attended only one Baccalaureate. Apparently, the entire concept, to bless those brave, young hearts as they go forward into a world that will seek only to see how many kicks it will take before they cry "uncle" and surrender, had fallen out of favor...

"My kingdom is not of this world." This was Jesus' answer to Pilate, recorded in John 18:36, when asked if he was, in fact, a king. His answer is still true, even though American Christianity has done its best to coronate the United States as our own version of Jesus' kingdom. We were told that this was all part of that original, breathtaking dream, forged in the hearts of the nation's founders...

I'm spending some time in time-travel land this week, trying to get through another tome by Stephen King before it becomes overdue at midnight tonight. This book deals with a rabbit hole that allows someone from today to walk into the world sometime in the late 1950s. ...

God's very best for you is my new, all-purpose prayer, because whether you're in financial straits, your health is compromised or your children are filled with rebellion and little else, God's very best for you is your only hope. It's all-purpose because this prayer works for anyone, even meeting Jesus' command to "pray for your enemies."...

There is a passage in Scripture that has always fascinated me, but I didn't want to look at it too closely, lest it require more of me. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. ...

Frequent readers know that my early television viewing involved stark, black and white images that could not adequately camouflage the blood, the bruises or the tears shed as violence erupted on the streets of America during the height of the Civil Rights movement...

I truly didn't think it was possible, but apparently, there is no shortage of "end of days" scenarios, and Hollywood is doing its level best to make sure they capitalize on all of them before Dec. 21, 2012. Yes, that's the correct date, if you're a fan of the Mayan calendar and believe that somehow this ancient civilization possessed the secrets of time, including when it will end...

Even though I am not a member of a fellowship that adheres to any organized observance of Lent, I must admit that this is one of my favorite times of year. The way I understand it, the Lenten tradition is intended to bathe believers in the grim reality of what our great salvation cost the one who came to seek and to save the lost. For my part, I cannot seem to separate his sacrifice from my salvation at any time of year, and woe to me if I ever do...

Watching the world unwrap another day this week, we took a brief trip through time and circumstance, retracing the unusual places and people that we encountered along the way. Those who live where they grew up enjoy many benefits from that reality. Since time out of mind, up until the last century or so, where you were born was where you died, after living many fruitful years traveling the same highways and byways as you unwrapped your days...

When the movie "A Perfect Storm" came on television a few years ago, the rolling waves, the pounding rain and the sheer guts and determination of the fishing crew immediately swept me into the story. As the drama continued, as the waves grew and the wind speed increased, I watched for the sure-to-come rescue. ...

The cold temperatures and long dark hours that are our lot in mid-winter can take a heavy toll on the human heart. When the sun shone brightly on a recent Sunday afternoon, we fled the winter confines of the house and busied ourselves cleaning up what winter rubbish we could wrest from the pockets of snow still lurking in the northern corners of our world. The light, and the warmth, were gone too soon...

Originally published March 1, 2000 in the McCook Daily Gazette

Originally published Feb. 2, 2000 in the McCook Daily Gazette

Originally published Feb. 16, 2000 in the McCook Daily Gazette

Originally published Oct. 17, 2001 in the McCook Daily Gazette

I'm off to summer school. At least, I hope it will be summer school. I certainly don't want to go back to the days when we had to walk to school, in the blinding snow, uphill both ways. In any case, I think I'm going to enjoy the classroom curriculum. Time has come for me to learn how to be a child again, and just in time. This grown-up stuff is getting old in a hurry...

I was nearly speechless. Nearly. A news broadcast revealed that somewhere in the United States of America, we now have the school food police. Not just to check on the USDA approved menu items and whether or not they are offered in the appropriate quantities; but to inspect -- and pass judgment on -- whatever is packed in a child's lunchbox from home...

My mother had beautiful hands. They were small and delicate and her fingers were perfectly tapered and ended with nails women today pay a small fortune for. My hands are perfectly functional, but rather large, with oversized knuckles. My fingers are long without a hint of a taper, but I can grow the same nails, although I can seldom be troubled to maintain them. ...

It had been a particularly challenging week and I was delighted when bedtime arrived Friday night and I could turn the radio alarm clock to the off position. Even without a nudge from that appliance, I started waking up, right on time, but repeatedly settled back into a deep sleep, reminding myself over and over again that it was Saturday morning and I could sleep as late as I wanted...

Over the past several weeks I have spent an inordinate amount of time helping to develop step-by-step instructions for a computer program at the McCook Daily Gazette that allows paginators to send their page directly to the platemaker, a process known as CTP...

As a child I dutifully stood with my classmates and, hand over my heart, recited the Pledge of Allegiance with patriotic fervor. In fact, watching the fifth graders paint a mural based on "America the Beautiful" earned me the ire of my third-grade teacher who grew weary of me constantly ignoring her at the front of the classroom so I could look over my shoulder and watch in wonder as purple mountains and amber waves of grain appeared from the mixed tempura paints reserved for the upper-classmen. ...

"It's my money and I want it now!" is the cry on the television each night as wanna-be opera stars sing the toll free phone line of a company that would be happy to give you your money now, for what I am sure they consider to be a nominal fee. As the credit card bills and department store chits come in from the holiday shopping sprees, certainly there are some who are anxious for a windfall that will allow them to pay off their the green and red debt and are willing to part with that nominal fee in order to get out from under. ...

'Tis the season to take a good long look in the mirror (just not first thing in the morning on Jan. 1), to see if there is any room for improvement. If the mirror doesn't reveal any needs, just ask friends and family, they're sure to have more than one suggestion...

Growing up in the metropolitan Denver area meant that we had a choice between two amusement parks, Lakeside Amusement Park and the more well-known and much lauded Elitch Gardens, my personal favorite. I write of the original Elitch Gardens, complete with shaded boulevards, gorgeous flower gardens (hence the name) and well-shaded family picnic areas. (I've never dropped a dime at the "new" Elitch Gardens, though my children love it.)...

Shameless commercialism takes center stage, beginning on the Friday following Thanksgiving and continuing through the closeout sales that mark the end of the year. It's almost as if everything we gave earnest thanks for on the fourth Thursday in November is suddenly not enough. Not good enough. Not new enough. Not pretty enough...

Deconstruction. In this day and age of reuse, repurpose or recycle, deconstruction is all the rage. There may be a treasure trove in the old siding or in the 100-year-old glass, still unbroken after a century of battling heat, cold, rain, sleet and winds that would bend the strongest of branches...

"Oh, I love Mac's Drive Inn. I guess I'll never get to eat there again," was the lament of a former McCook resident who broke all ties with the community when she divorced her husband. She texted the remark to her 8-year-old daughter who was eating at Mac's at the time, her ties unbroken by the broken pledge between her mother and father...

Danny and I started a list at the beginning of the year, detailing notable events worldwide. Danny was of the opinion that 2011 was going to be a year to remember. I really hate it when he's right. Eventually, I had to give the list up. After filling more than three pages with earthquakes, insurrections, wildfires and flooding -- before even half of the year had passed -- I just couldn't take it anymore...

Most of the favored traditions in the old neighborhood were well-steeped in alcoholic beverages. Every adult turned a blind eye to the ages of those imbibing as well, as long as they weren't younger than 14 or so. In fact, the drunkest I ever got in my entire life was at the tender age of 16, in full view of the adults that had settled this particular neighborhood when the homes were first built in the 1950s. ...

The verdict is in. Conrad Murray has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of pop legend Michael Jackson. Halfway across the nation, a stay of execution has been granted to Hank Skinner, sentenced to death for a 1993 triple murder involving his girlfriend and her two adult sons. The stay is temporary while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decides whether or not a new state DNA law, SB122, signed by Gov. Rick Perry, applies in Skinner's case...

When news that a new life is expected, everyone gets busy. There are diapers to stockpile, baby afghans to crochet, crib sheets, receiving blankets, a car seat, a crib, sleepers and bottles to acquire. For the more affluent, a room must be made ready. Blue or pink? Bunnies or cowboys?...

This is the time of year that gave me fits as a young mother. With three children requiring costumes for the traditional Halloween party at school, costumes that could also be worn while they trekked up and down the streets of our neighborhood, the stress of Halloween was nearly my undoing each year...

It is an all too common malady of modern man. So much so, in fact, there is a saying (which I have come to abhor, having heard it too many times to count) that springs from the malady of assumption. The saying is a play on the word "assume" as in "I assume..." Using the first three letters of the word, the saying warns the speaker that to assume is to make an ass out of you and me. I cringe to hear it spoken aloud...

At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that would ever happen to me and I was nearly undone by the entire experience. In February 1972, I was an overnight "guest" of the good people of Eureka County, Nevada, sleeping on an un-sheeted, blue tick mattress that was covered with numerous unidentifiable stains. ...

Built in the 1950s, the curved streets of Danny's childhood neighborhood sat adjacent to Centennial Race Track in Littleton, Colorado. It is now a mature neighborhood, those gleaming brand new homes showing their years, the saplings planted with so much hope now fulfilling that long ago promise, a canopy shading nearly the entire length of the street. ...

I am a total sap. If the Trix rabbit had shown up at my childhood breakfast table, I would have slid my bowl over to him and let him use my spoon. That is, if I had been able to persuade Mom to buy a name brand cereal. I always root for the underdog and if there is any good thing to be found in even the worst situations, I seek it out. ...

Beep, beep, beep. Designed to call the populace to attention, the signature beep, beep, beep of the Emergency Broadcast System soon became just another annoyance in modern life, initially inspiring alarm -- alarm that undoubtedly contributed to an entire generation's fatalistic outlook on life...

Old houses need a lot of tender, loving care. Especially those made of wood. And, since Danny has spent the past three summers reconditioning his 1969 Ford 3/4-ton truck, complete with forest service-approved utility bed, also reconditioned, our old home place was starting to look a little ragged around the edges...

These are not happy memories. The visions from that day, nearly 10 years old now, still chill us and many of us would like nothing better than to let this anniversary pass, the wounds still too fresh for picking. In the newsroom, however, everyone has been helping to compile collective memories for a special tab and I prepared five radio broadcasts for KNGN 1360 AM, recalling columns written immediately after the terrorist attacks and in the weeks and months following...

I don't remember listening to the radio much as a youngster. Dad had an extensive LP collection and loved all genres of music, so when we listened to music, we listened to those. But, in 1968, I did have an AM transistor radio, a Christmas gift that year if I remember correctly, and I listened to it for as long as the battery lasted...

Danny's love affair with motorcycles started when he was quite young. Perhaps inspired by the Haney's collection of Harleys across the street, he made up his mind early to ride as far, as fast, and as frequently as he could, with the wind in his hair...

If Britain's prime minister David Cameron is serious about restoring that nation's moral compass, as he stated following nearly a week of riots and mayhem there, he needs to first look at the man in the mirror. This is not a personal attack on a public figure. It is a statement of fact that can be applied to any man or woman -- every man or woman...

The images were haunting, the locale foreign and mysterious. The people were different from any I had ever seen before, and not just because of their dark skin and unusual clothing. It was something in their eyes, a haunted look in some, a frightened look in others while some contained that thousand yard stare that reveals more than it hides as they focus on nothing, having seen far too much darkness in their days...

I have always marveled at how much a baby changes during the first year of life. Vulnerable from conception, let alone first breath, they never fail to bring a tear-tinged smile to my face at first meeting. I know that their helplessness will soon be replaced by tiny hands reaching to touch everything in their world, first testing it for its viability as food for the body. ...

I spent a recent lunch hour scouring the shelves of a local discount store with murder on my mind. Our Boo Boo kitty has apparently rented out space to a local family of fleas and they are prolific reproducers. He's miserable, and so am I. He is frequently stopped in his tracks to do battle against their feasting and I am afflicted with itchy ankles. Apparently, Danny has a natural immunity...

Memory lane opened up recently and I took a trek back to the high desert of Nevada, riding in the back of a Nevada state trooper's vehicle. We were bound for Eureka, a wide spot in the road some 77 miles from Ely, Nevada, where we had topped off the gas tank in Danny's 1959 Rambler, lemon yellow with a 6-inch black racing stripe right up the middle...

If Mom hadn't mentioned the iron that day, I would have walked right past it without a first thought, let alone a second one. But, she warned me off, saying "I've been downstairs ironing all day, so that iron is hot. Don't touch it." Of course, that meant I had to touch it. ...

The cacophony of fireworks has already begun. The requisite photograph of youngsters buying fireworks has already been taken, with Page One publication due any day now, perhaps even today. The sale ads for the discount stores all feature the latest and greatest in outdoor grills and grilling supplies (but the single raffle ticket I bought to win a new one is no doubt in the bottom of the trash heap by now, since no one has called to congratulate me on my good fortune)...

I have never been very athletic. I squeeze my eyes shut if anyone throws anything at me, including a softball or a basketball. And running? Well, I have avoided that heart-pounding, sweat-inducing exercise all of my life. A brisk walk suits me just fine, and I've even been known to power-walk the aisles at the local discount store. (It helps me avoid those all too important to the store's bottom line impulse-buys.)...

The chorus from an Air Supply song, written by Graham Russell, has been running through my head for the past couple of days. Actually, it's just that first line, "Here I am, the one that you love." I'm sure I knew all of the words back in the day and turned up the radio each time it came on. It's a love song, with the one who is loved asking for "just another day," promising that he in turn loves her "in so many ways."...

We seem all too ready to believe the worst about someone and are all too eager to dismiss any favorable reports. A case in point is found in yet another forward in my e-mail inbox. This one was introduced with the incendiary (to me) headline "Don't buy Pepsi."...

Not realizing the significance at the time, I failed to write down the official beginning day and date of what would become and continues to be the great and ongoing saga of Danny Lee Cribbs and Dawn Elizabeth Carlson. But the 40th anniversary will take place sometime in the next couple of weeks. I think...

When we first left Wichita, bound for home, the miles couldn't go by fast enough. The decision to return to Colorado had been made much like the one that had landed us in Wichita in the first place -- on the spur of the moment, with no forethought and zero preparation...

Many years ago, during a job interview at an insurance agency in Worland Wyoming, I was asked, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" The inquiry was met with a blank stare. I've never been one to set goals, so I had no satisfactory answer to offer that day and left the interview in the same condition I had arrived in -- unemployed. Maybe the question is of particular importance to those in the insurance game...

When the Twin Towers fell September 11, 2001, video of fanatic Muslims cheering in the streets across the Middle East added another layer of pain to the newly broken heart of the United States. And, although the death of Osama bin Laden wasn't unwelcome news in this nation nearly 10 years after he ordered those attacks, I was immediately dismayed to see Americans and people worldwide cheering in the streets because of his demise...

I read in a commentary once that one of the reasons small children need frequent naps is because they are bombarded by emotions throughout the day. The author stated that children experience as many emotional highs and lows in a single day as most adults experience in a week's time...

With every passing day, I inch closer and closer to becoming a woman of some significant years. It's an especially difficult transition this time of year. The weather is altogether changeable. Clouds, fog, nearly freezing temperatures greet the dawn, with bright sunshine and warmer temperatures arriving just in time for supper -- sometimes...

Although I generally enjoy traveling I don't travel often. But in October of 2002 Danny and I had the opportunity to travel to North Dakota. Patrick and his growing family had recently moved there. They were lonesome for familiar faces and so made us very welcome. Nevertheless, not wanting to over-crowd the nearly newlyweds, we checked into a motel room for our stay, a family-owned place just off the highway...

When I first met Chris and Eunice Atkins, to do a new pastor story for the newspaper in August 2006, I ended up spending a lot more time with them than I typically do when covering a story. It helped that the center of the focus that day was my favorite subject, Jesus -- what he has done and is doing in people's lives throughout time and yet today...

The numbers don't lie. According to New York City's Department of Health, nearly 60 percent of pregnancies among African-American women there end in abortion. Nationally, 37 percent of pregnancies among African-American women end in abortion. The numbers prompted Life Always to place a billboard ad, featuring a lovely little black girl in a pink dress with the caption "The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb," at the corner of Watts and Avenue of the Americas in New York City. ...

I was intrigued recently while putting the advice page together for the paper, a daily event. Thankfully, I don't actually have to give advice to build the page. I just position syndicated columnists on the page. Sometimes, however, the temptation to give advice is almost more than I can bear...

It might be time to buy a lottery ticket. Danny says he dreamt we couldn't spend our money anymore -- if something cost $1, he'd hand a single to the cashier and by the time it went from his hand to hers, it was a $10 bill and she would give him change. It happened every time...

I've written about Marcus before -- the little boy I looked after when my oldest, Ben, was still a babe in arms. Marcus was the most inquisitive human being I had ever encountered, repeatedly asking "why" about everything under the sun. The first time I changed Ben's diaper in his presence, Marcus had at least a dozen "why?" questions following his initial, "What are you doing now?"...

My grandparents teased my mom and dad when they announced that they were naming their number two daughter "Dawn." It was fitting at the time since I was born at 6:18 a.m. I guess it was my dad's dad who quipped, "If she'd been born at 6:18 p.m., I guess you would have named her "Twilight." Dad was not amused. (He wasn't known for his sense of humor.)...

My mother was an optimist. It couldn't have been fun, packing up a family of seven every 7-8 months to move yet again, but she did her best to make a game of it, once packing the lot of us into an oversized box with the promise that she would send us to Timbuktu if we didn't stay out of her way. I can still hear the childish giggles, inside and outside of the box...

Our neighbor and adopted grandma Bea loved to fish. Her age and physical limitations, however, prevented her from indulging in that favorite pastime, until Danny put his mind to the problem, loaded the family and Bea into our 1973 Ford Pinto station wagon and drove us up to a gently-sloped mountain lake. ...

When someone asks me a question, I take them and their question very seriously. Especially if it is a question about faith. Not too long ago, someone wrote asking if a murderer, who accepts the Lord as Savior and asks for forgiveness for his sin, will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven...

I remember waking in the middle of the night many years ago, sobbing. In my dream, our Lisa had died. I don't know how she died, I only knew that in the dream, she was dead and I was inconsolable. Once I was fully awake, the sobbing stopped, but the tears continued to flow as the fragments of the dream remained. ...

It is widely believed that everyone has an inborn talent, although some remain well hidden for many years. My brothers are both musicians, semi-professionally during their younger years, but it was hard for them to make enough to keep body and soul together, especially as their families grew...

I have spent a fair amount of time poring over motor manuals in my day. As the official family "mechnic," it has often fallen to me to read repair instructions for Danny while he's flat on his back, gravel biting, dirt falling into his eyes, his wrench wedged deep in the underbelly of whatever vehicle is in need of his attention...

If memory serves, and sometimes it does, the change starts to happen around sixth grade, but it is slow in coming and isn't obvious until midway through the seventh grade. Those who were once nothing more than an irritating mystery, a last-ditch playmate when everyone else was gone, are suddenly an intrigue and curiosity inspire any number of questions...

It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when I was afraid of the sound of my own voice. It's hard not to develop that fear when seemingly every time you proffer an opinion, especially a dissenting opinion, you get shouted down. In my family of origin, I learned to keep my peace in order to keep the peace...

We hadn't lived in our "new to us" house very long when we discovered that the neighbors had a rottweiler. The only thing we knew about the breed was that they were very territorial and could be vicious if anyone crossed into their world. So we warned our children, then 8, 9 and 13, to stay on our side of the fence...

It's time to put 2010 to rest, and some ways, it seems like it's been a very long year. Conversely, I cannot fathom where the time has gone, although according to my work log (better known as my photo file) 2010 has been busier than usual. In addition to the events I try to cover each year, like the National Day of Prayer, the Community Lenten Services, new pastors and new churches, 2010 also brought stories of dog rescues, hero dogs and unintended death. ...

It's easier to predict what the Nebraska winds will bring than it is to predict what direction any given conversation will take in the newsroom at the McCook Daily Gazette. For example, the question "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" was posed several weeks back. ...

Last month the chamber of commerce issued a warning about a rash of phony 20 dollar bills being passed in McCook. Spotting a counterfeit bill is relatively easy. So is the training on how to spot one. Bank tellers and others who handle a large amount of currency simply study the bills. ...

Our recent day trip to Denver was an exercise in endurance. We have discovered we are no where near 25 anymore. Once upon a time, a time we thought would last forever, we could have done a marathon trip like this, grabbed a couple of hours of shut-eye, gotten up and done it all over again. I know this to be true, because we did it. Frequently. And that was with three small children and traveling twice the distance...

I'm afraid I fell victim to an unrealistic idealization of what love was in my younger years. Too many romance novels, no doubt. I really wanted to be someone's reason for living, I wanted someone to be absolutely consumed by the want of me. Wow. The power. To have someone wrapped around my little finger, ready to leap to accomplish my every whim...

We celebrated Thanksgiving early at the Gazette, with everyone contributing a favorite side dish to complement the ham and turkey last Thursday. We divide break room duties monthly, by department, but when we have a big dinner, everyone does what they can to help with the clean-up. I helped our accounts receivable administrator, Deb, with the dishes...

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again." The children's verse teaches a hard lesson with great imagery. Even a child can see an egg -- dropped on the floor, shattered shell surrounded by clear fluid and an orb of yellow -- and know it cannot be mended...

The "have it your way" ad campaign for Burger King was long-running and quite successful. And I still hold them to it, asking them to "hold the pickle" on my Whopper whenever I'm lucky enough to be in a town with a Burger King "Have it your way" seems to be the new mantra of this post-modern age. ...

Another election cycle has come and gone, just in time for the 2012 season to dawn sometime Thursday morning, Nov. 4. The hope and change promised in the last presidential campaign has given way to another wave of hope and change for some, as in "I hope we can change things back to the way they were."...

A hundred years ago Ellis Island saw millions of souls -- the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breath free, wretched refuse from distant teeming shores -- disembark from the perilous seas looking only for the skyline of New York to know at least this part of their long journey was over...

Even though by this time tomorrow I will be well-past middle age -- since I have no intention of living to the ripe old age of 110 -- I find I still have a lot to learn. An ongoing lesson, one I continue to have to learn and relearn, is how to free others so that they too can learn. I made some progress on that one earlier this year when our "Colorado Girls" came to spend a week with Grandpa and Grandma...

We used to tease my dad mercilessly every time he popped a piece of Doublemint gum in his mouth. He chewed gum as enthusiastically as a cow chews her cud, with much lip smacking and gum snapping, his pleasure evident to all. Mom, on the other, although she could snap gum better than anyone else in the family, could also conceal a stick so well that no one could tell she even had gum in her mouth...

Breaking news. All conservatives are not Christians and all Christians are not conservatives. I wanted to make that clear because I do not want people drawing the wrong conclusion about Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who admitted to posting an abbreviated version of a black woman's recent address before the NAACP in order to draw attention to that agency's alleged racism in July...

It was, in a word, refreshing. The speaker Sunday night at Memorial Auditorium, Pam Stenzel, did not mince words. She didn't soft-pedal her message but allowed her passion full expression as she presented fact after fact after fact about the dangers of premarital sex and promiscuity...

When I was a seventh-grader at North Arvada Junior High, I watched the custodian help the gym teacher assemble several pieces of some rather odd-looking equipment one day. It was gymnastic equipment, I was told -- the pommel horse, the balance beam and my personal favorite, the uneven bars. Apparently, the school district transported the equipment from school to school throughout the year and it was finally our turn...

Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, said, "Falsehood is never so successful as when she baits her hook with truth, and no opinions so fatally mislead us, as those that are not wholly wrong." I found this little tidbit as the teaser to, of all things, a bridge column titled "When in trouble, try to mislead."...

The first thing I do when I get home from work is take off my shoes. I love being barefoot. I do slip on a pair of fuzzy slippers in the winter, but if the weather is warm, and I'm not required to wear shoes, my toes are out there wiggling for anyone to see...

"Ring the bell softly, there's crepe on the door." So reads a Victorian era poem. Crepe on the door was the indication that death had paid a call. It warned visitors to enter softly, with tender hearts, ready to help or ready to depart, whatever suited the bereaved household. ...

"And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall..." The words to this Jefferson Airplane hit from my obviously misspent youth have been running through my head lately, as it seems I've been chasing rabbits. Oh, not the White Rabbit from the song, written by Grace Slick and released on the Surrealistic Pillow album in 1967. ...

Whoa. Stop the presses. Anne Rice is quitting the church. Not only that, but Anne Rice is quitting Christianity. She's not alone. According to a story from Christian Newswire, nearly 8 million Americans leave church annually. And they do it for a variety of reasons. ...

Overall, I'm a pretty easy-going gal. In fact, when I admit to having a bit of a temper, my co-workers actually scoff. I assure them, in my best impression of the late Bill Bixby in the role of Dr. David Banner; "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."...

Unconditional love. It's an intriguing concept. And it is often attributed to mothers and fathers, representing the deep love we have for our children, even before birth. It is also attributed to God, typically because of that most famous of all verses, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)...

Another e-mail joke, detailing the differences between generations, is making its way through cyber-space, addressed primarily to people who have seen their 40th birthday. Since I passed the 40 year mile marker along the road of life long ago, I could easily relate to the comparisons...

My sister's husband is facing a serious health crisis. But before they do anything, they are seeking a second opinion. In fact, they are at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas, as this is written. I'm all in favor of second opinions. So much so that when my obstetrician determined that I needed an emergency Caesarean section in order to safely deliver my daughter, Lisa, I timidly proposed seeking a second opinion. ...

It's a foundation issue. Any builder can tell you that if the foundation of your home is compromised, the entire structure is at risk. It's why we have building codes, designed specifically for geographical areas, soil conditions, flood plains and the like, that are strictly enforced across the length and breadth of the nation. Foundations matter...

I like to fix things. When I encounter a situation where hearts are broken, I want to restore them. This is not a bad thing. However, this desire to set things to right has gotten me into trouble more than once over the course of my life, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me...

Mark this date on your calendar: May 21, 2011. On second thought, don't. There really isn't any point. You see, according to yet another postcard to cross my desk here at the McCook Daily Gazette, that is the date of the oft-promised rapture of the church and the beginning of the Great Tribulation...

I'm no fan of late night television. It comes on way past my bedtime and we banned television from the bedroom many years ago. However, I have enjoyed replays of David Letterman Top Ten lists when I catch them on the early morning news programs. He always saves the best for last and I think he may be on to something...

I have held, to date, 32 jobs, including several stints as a babysitter, combined here to count as one of the 32. I have waited tables, washed dishes, tried to "make the donuts," cared for the elderly, cooked for the elderly and for school children, and did my time under the "Golden Arches."...

Summer vacation is almost here. And I'm so excited, I can barely stand it. It's been many years since the advent of summer vacation has mattered. But this year, I find myself daydreaming of those first few days of freedom, the days stretching out before me, with routine thrown to the four winds and the whim of the moment claiming each day...

I never knew who would be on the phone when I answered it at the Nutrition Services office where I worked for several years. We served eight schools and nine kitchens, including the central bakery, and no two days were ever alike. Kitchens and catastrophes seem to go hand-in-hand. ...

A firestorm is already brewing over President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Many are fearful of her ideologies, especially as they pertain to pro-choice issues and homosexual rights. I don't think we need to be overly concerned about her influence, or that any of the other justices on the Supreme Court bench...

It could have been summer. More likely, it was winter. Whatever the case, we were trapped inside by the elements with naught but the TV to distract us. The clicker landed on either The History Channel or Discovery and a documentary about Mardi Gras beads...

I'm really a little too long in the tooth to be learning this again, but apparently, I'm a slow study. Frustration has set in, even though I know it to be an exercise in futility. Perhaps it is because the garden exists only in my mind while we wait, more impatiently day-by-day, for the salvage yard to come and collect the refuse leftover from the recent truck rehabilitation. Until they do, there's no room to build the trailer and no garden space to till...

It was 1956. And after years of scrimping, saving and pinching pennies until they cried for mercy, Archie and Winnie finally had enough set back to buy a house. And they went brand new, in a brand new subdivision, on the edge of nowhere (as nowhere was defined in 1956) in Littleton, Colo...

Several years ago, I wrote a column titled, "Going about it backwards?" pondering the controversial issue about when life begins. In it, I argued that it may be as simple as impact, noting that with the confirmation of pregnancy, life is irrevocably changed. ...

Words like honor, respect and love can lose a little something, either in the expectations the words evoke or in the over-use or outright misuse of each one. Look at love. Primarily viewed as an emotion, the word love takes many forms in our day-to-day lives. Someone loves their job, which doesn't (or shouldn't) equate with the love they have for their children or their spouse...

She faced months, if not years in jail, which was unthinkable. She was a wife and a mother. She was also an alcoholic. And she had racked up back-to-back-to-back DUIs. The state was done giving her second, third and fourth chances to clean up her act...

Danny found his spring/summer project last week. He's combining two old trucks into one refurbished vehicle, so it will once again be roadworthy and useful. It all started with the leaf springs, which were a lot harder to find than one would think. Since his truck is equipped with a heavy-duty utility bed he has no use for the bed on the "parts" truck he recently purchased and so is planning to turn it into a trailer. Should work, and will undoubtedly be equally as useful as the truck is...

Several years ago, I spent my winter evenings and weekends knitting fun fur scarves. I love them. I don't do turtlenecks well, but having that narrow, colorful, fuzzy yarn draped around my neck gives me that warm cozy feel and adds a little color to my sometimes drab wardrobe. I have several. Some I made for myself, others, of much higher quality, were handmade gifts from friends. I do my best each winter to color coordinate so I can wear one every day...

I don't know how the newspaper reporter managed to put the words on paper. This was more than two decades ago, if not three, but the story continues to haunt me, as I'm sure it does that reporter and anyone else who read the story. I can barely stand to retell even a portion of it here...

Being good without God has become the mantra for many atheists, and they undoubtedly have a point. Atheists, agnostics and people who worship many gods or no god in particular, are in fact capable of goodness, capable of acts of kindness, mercy and even self-sacrifice. (Of course, the opposite is also true, evidenced by the table set up by an atheist group at the University of Texas at San Antonio offering pornography in exchange for "holy text.")...

Hollywood. The place for the beautiful people. Glittering lights, sparkling water, verdant gardens, even the tears are beautiful. You know the ones I mean. The tears that well up, and stream gently down the cheeks of the one who weeps. Beautiful tears, silently shed, carefully caught in a linen handkerchief, quickly subsiding...

The heart is deceitful above all things. So much so that we can successfully hide the deepest darkness in the recesses of our hearts, buried so deep that it can't be seen. In fact, if no one comes around to shine a light on that darkness, the darkness is likely to remain, growing blacker by the day...

Many years ago, I joined two of my sisters-in-law in one car while the guys piled into another. The band at the bar in Kirby, had proven to be a disappointment, so we headed back to Worland to finish our "night on the town." I was in the back seat, where I could see, in the rear view mirror, as the headlights from Wayne's Ford Maverick followed us down the deserted Wyoming highway. As we chatted, I occasionally glanced in the mirror, keeping tabs on the menfolk...

I found myself indulging in an activity late last year that I usually avoid. Perhaps indulging isn't quite the right word. Perhaps I should say -- exposing myself. Not to worry, this column isn't for mature audiences only. I frequently peruse online blogs, finding the commentaries to be informative and, at times, explosive. Reader comments always seem to add fuel to the fire and different perceptions emerge from unlikely sources...

It seemed a little silly to me at the time, but I wanted to be a good sport about it. After all, I spend virtually my entire workday in front of a computer screen, researching, writing and mousing image and text boxes into their proper positions on pages. Usually the last thing I want to do at day's end, or at day's beginning for that matter, is to set myself down in front of another computer, for whatever reason...

U-turns can change a life, even end a life. The maneuver itself is commonplace in every day life. Usually, U-turns happen when we're already distracted, with 14 things left on a single day's to-do list, none of which can be done without the very thing we've left behind -- be that a briefcase, a diaper bag, a cell phone, or worst of all, my purse...

The design is simplicity itself. Any 4-year-old with two popsicle sticks and some glue can make one. They can be small enough to be worn around the neck or wrist, or large enough to be seen for miles across the open prairie. Too frequently they are fashioned alongside an otherwise unadorned stretch of highway, perhaps singly or in groups of two, three or more...

Contentment. Chaos. Choices as plain as the fare offered on the menu. Choices we make each day. Some people, I'll admit, thrive on chaos. When everything is up in the air, people running hither, thither and yon, crying with Chicken Little that the sky is falling, these folks are in their element. ...

I didn't expect it to come back quite so easily. Frankly, I thought it was gone for good. You see, I've been directionally challenged since moving to Southwest Nebraska 12 years ago. Prior to that move, knowing north from south and east from west was second nature. I was raised along the Front Range in Colorado where the mountains are always west and the other three directions easily plotted from that immovable point...

I suffered from multiple personality disorder this week, my differing personalities vying for pre-eminence, with the lead personality changing with each tick of the clock. I've been sick. I think with the flu, since there was fever, body aches and a cough that will likely linger through the next holiday. ...

It's a common human malady. And there is no escaping it. Furthermore, we are all slaves to it, with little hope of rescue. Yet we deny that it exists, refusing to believe it has any power over any of us, let alone all of us, as if by denying it we can overcome it...

When the Gazette first moved toward pagination more than a decade ago, the new computers had an interesting feature that seemed endearing, at least initially. It lost its allure after about the sixth recitation, however. When a mistake was made, a computer-generated robot-like voice would intone, "It's not my fault." It didn't take us long to find the necessary tool to silence the voice. ...

Can it be nearly 40 years gone since that fateful night? For some reason, I had the house to myself. Mom and Dad were probably at Tac's, the local Chinese restaurant and lounge where Mom worked part-time after her full shift in the warehouse at a magazine distributorship. ...

"I don't get no respect!" was the catch-phrase of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Respect is defined in the dictionary as "a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements." Aretha Franklin added her own take on the word with her hit R.E.S.P.E.C.T with her rendition of Otis Redding's words, written in 1965...

Hard as it is to believe, this is the 500th column I have written and submitted for publication in the McCook Daily Gazette When I wrote the first one, published Dec. 8, 1999, I had no idea what was soon to come. However, beginning in early 2000, and on every regularly scheduled Wednesday since, omitting holidays and vacation days, Dawn of a New Day, aptly named by my editor, Bruce Crosby on Dec. 28, 1999, has appeared...

My parents weren't perfect. Though that's not earth shattering news, when I first realized it, I had to work through it. Up to a certain age, most children believe that their parents can do no wrong. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary. I well remember coming to my parents' defense, when some well-meaning neighbor called social services to report that something seemed amiss in our family. ...

I owe a deep and heartfelt apology to every person of significant years I've ever known. Some, it must be said, are getting this deep and heartfelt apology posthumously. After all, I'm a slow learner and sometimes, even slower to admit it when I'm wrong...

I've kept my fair share of secrets. When planning a surprise anniversary party for Mom and Dad in 1969, my brothers and sisters and I had to involve honored guests in the planning. Even with their help, it proved to be far beyond our limited ability and we ended up bringing Mom and Dad in on the secret hoping to avoid an unmitigated disaster. We didn't. Some surprise...

I don't remember when I first became aware of dirt or of my ability to get dirt on me. I do remember Saturday night baths in the kitchen at the Albion, Iowa, farmhouse, simply because they were so unique in my experience. Aunt Helen would pull out a huge galvanized tub and heat water on the cookstove, using corn cobs as fuel. Everyone went into the tub, one at a time, to emerge squeaky clean, including Uncle Floyd, who got first dibs. (Or is that first dips?)...

I am amazed each morning when I awaken that some desperate soul somewhere hasn't created a smoking hole in the ground somewhere in the world. Certainly, there is enough turmoil, frustration and anger in every corner of the world to ignite the conflagration...

My dad loved cars. He particularly loved fast cars. But in order to be fast, a car also must handle the road well. One night, when I was 15, it was just Dad and me, in the late hours of the night, or perhaps the early hours of the morning, westbound on I-70. Dad was driving his pride and joy, a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Yellow, if it matters...

Years ago, Danny saw a news story reporting the brutal beating and rape of a young woman on a pool table in a bar in New York. That part of the story is horrifying in and of itself, however, Danny continued to read, discovering that there were six men involved in this brutality...

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... I have a vague and frightful memory from early childhood, awakening in a strange bedroom with unfamiliar shapes and shadows surrounding me. At first sight, it appeared as though a strong, large person was standing at the foot of the bed, looming over me, intent on harm. ...

Deer Creek Canyon was a favorite destination when Danny and I were first married. The canyon was only short drive from Littleton, Colo., so we could be in mountain grandeur by suppertime after a long day at work, enjoying the fall foliage and the sparkling waters cascading down Deer Creek...

Perusing online newspapers doesn't do their circulation numbers much good and I'm afraid I'm going to develop a permanent negative shake as I read story after story that confound me. Perhaps I should give it up. Oh wait, newspapers, online and otherwise, are my bread and butter. Guess I'll just have to take more deep breaths, exhaling a prayer after each one...

My daughter Lisa is discovering that raising small children isn't quite as easy as it looks. They are inquisitive. They are busy. They are forever testing the limits and pushing hard against the boundary lines. Not only that, they are tireless. No matter how tired mom and dad may be, they're still ready for one more round...

My youngest granddaughter, Alycia, started kindergarten this week. She is not impressed. Apparently, you're not allowed to bring your little brother to kindergarten. She is inconsolable. That is sure to change. She isn't the first kindergartner to react to the first day, or even the first week of school, with tears. ...

Once upon a time, I believed you could live on love. And why not? When I met Danny at age 15, there was no doubt in my mind that our love was strong enough to weather every storm, to shield us from winter's worst blow and to satisfy our every hunger...

When it comes to cars and keeping them on the road well past any reasonable expectation, no one does it better than my husband. A case in point that almost proved to be the exception to that rule, stumped both Danny and our then-neighbor, Vern, no slouch himself in the automotive field...

He lived a tragic life. Such could be the epithet of far too many in this day and age. While watching the myriad news accounts of Michael Jackson's death, all I could see was tragedy, in the life he lived and in the death he died. I saw the same sorrowful image when Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007, under the same dark cloud of drug abuses and overdoses...

It doesn't surprise me in the least that when folks express a desire to "recapture their youth" they never want to revisit age 13, 14 or even 15. Twenty-one is a favorite, more likely 25, perhaps as young as 18, but never those awkward, uncomfortable, transitional years of adolescence...

Winter was a long time leaving this year. It seemed we were stuck inside for most of it, often driven to the idiot box in the living room to stave off cabin fever. There are a couple of channels that never fail to amuse, if not educate. The History channel and the Discovery channel got a lot of viewing time as we snuggled under quilts to keep the thermostat low...

I admit my memory sometimes fails me, usually at the most inopportune time -- like when a familiar face appears and their name flies out of my head like bats out of a cave at sunset. It happens in other ways, as it did just the other day. A face, familiar in one context, struck no resounding chord in my memory in another. And the one unrecognized was astonished that I had forgotten his name, his face...

Apathy has reared its ugly head, again. Or is that a contradiction in terms? Nearly two years ago I wrote in a column titled "How's that again?" about a statement made in the hallway of a church by a member of that church to the effect that she wasn't promoting Christianity above any other religion. That was one example at the time of statements made by self-professed believers that belied their beliefs. A definite contradiction in terms...

When the children were young, if the sun was out, so were they, playing every moment of every day. I went through a lot of Band-Aids. They wore them like badges of honor, and it never bothered any of them to recount how they got their boo-boo when someone would ask, "Oh, what happened to your finger?" Or their knee, toes or anything else...

I've killed my fair share of trees. Some for worthy pursuits, some not so worthy. For example, I used to love to make lists. I thought lists were so important, I would spend a half hour preparing a list of chores needing done that day: empty the trash, wash the dishes, make the beds, dust, throw a load of towels in the washer and the clean jeans in the dryer. Each of which, or multiples of which, could have easily been accomplished in the time I spent making the list...

They call it an intervention. When someone engages in an activity that is detrimental to themselves, to those who love them, or is dangerous or addictive, oftentimes a plan is formed. Friends, family members, clergy and counselors sit down and rehearse how they will communicate to their afflicted loved one their deep concern, their hurts and their hopes, all with the intent to lovingly provide a different path for that loved one, who, if they continue on the path before them, will surely die...

The summer sunshine sure feels good. For awhile during the late winter and early spring, I feared we were going to live in perpetual clouds, and I'm one of those people who simply must have sunshine in her day. I don't do dismal well. Perhaps it has something to do with my name. A co-worker recently quipped when I arrived at work, "you can't have a day without a 'dawn'." The rains over the weekend, however, were welcome, the sweet smell and life-giving liquid refreshing all of creation...

When Ben was just a baby, times were tough. I had a great babysitter lined up and decided to go to work part-time to help out with the family finances. I worked for Jon's IGA in Worland, Wyo., and enjoyed the work a lot. I was out among people and found their grocery selections to be very interesting. ...

"Dawn Carlson is most likely to..." I'm supposing, if you asked my eighth grade teachers to fill in that blank for the yearbook, the majority would have used words like "fail," or "end up in jail." Fortunately, there were no yearbooks for the eighth grade. ...