BACK IN THE SADDLE
With the journey comes adventure
In the photograph, the railroad depot is well-lit, freshly painted, and clean. In my memory, it was derelict. The photo was of a rally in Fort Wayne in hopes of making that city a stop on a proposed high-speed rail line between Chicago and Cleveland.
Staff found way to get the job done
What does the boss do when his employees look at him as if he has lost his mind? That’s the question I was faced with Thursday morning, standing in the dark and chilling offices of the newspaper in Portland. At that early hour, only a handful of employees had made …
Hike brought a jaw-dropping start to new year
It’s called a First Day hike. That’s because you take the hike on Jan. 1, the first day of the year.
Take time to remember, wonder
Right now, there is no plan. That’s not unusual at this point. As I write this, New Year’s Eve is nearly a week away, we’re still digesting Christmas, the last of the houseguests haven’t yet caught their flight home, and — let’s face it — the notion of staying up …
Christmas Eve is about anticipation
Editor’s note: This column is being reprinted from Dec. 24, 2014. It is funny how our perspective changes over years. Youthful joy of Christmas anticipation can turn to parental stress or even adult indifference. As we celebrate this week, let’s all try to remember and recapture that Christmas joy of …
The season brings back memories
It’s inevitable, I suppose, that we get a bit sentimental and reflective during the holidays. Every celebration brings echoes of past celebrations. Every toast brings to mind those who aren’t here to raise their glasses. Every tradition reminds us of how each tradition was born.
Gratitude grows for childhood gift
Childhood Christmas presents date you.
Technology update was frustrating
The temptation is always there. Why not, I ask myself, just let the parade of technology go on without you? Just let the next “rev” of software pass you by. Just let the next new gimmick or gadget do its thing without you. And, to some extent, I give in …
Appreciate the Thanksgiving table
It was a typical Ronald family Thanksgiving, probably in the mid-1960s. In those days, the clan — as many of my father’s siblings, their spouses, their children, and grandchildren as possible — gathered together for a huge celebration.
Friendship continues uninterrupted
Some friendships require effort. Others sustain themselves. You know the ones I’m talking about, those friendships which can be disrupted by years and hundreds of miles but are renewed as easily as a conversation that has been momentarily interrupted.
‘Zoo’ served to liven up a gray day
“I feel like I’m in a zoo,” I told my wife over a bowl of soup. It was Monday, and November had landed with an audible thud. Gone were the crisp blue skies of October. Gone too were most of the autumn leaves, stripped from their branches by Saturday’s gusty …
Will stories have a happy ending?
The road home wound through the Indiana countryside as Svetlana unwound stories from her life on the other side of the world. We’d first met in Kyrgyzstan, the land of her birth, in 2002. And now she was in the Midwest to take part in a panel discussion at a …
Project was not an improvement
Somewhere along the line I forgot a couple of the basic rules of do-it-yourselfing. First, you don’t know as much as you think you know. Second, it’s never as easy as it looks on television.
Nicknames are an odd phenomena
Editor’s note: This column is being reprinted from Oct. 14, 2009. Tracking nicknames can be an interesting endeavor. The origins of some are obvious, while others seem to be created out of nothing at all. Think about the nicknames you’ve had over the years as you take this trip down …
Community weekend offered a lot
Professional hand-wringers love to decry the loss of community in America. They should have been around this weekend.
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