Opinion

Taking a walk on the normal side

Published by admin on Tue, 09/08/2020 - 10:00am

At first I was like everyone else, hoarding toilet paper, staying away from stores and hiding out. Now I think I’ve accepted COVID as just something that’s happening to us, like the flu or, I don’t know… the plague.

That’s the thing. In talking to people some say, “Aw, it’s nothing, I just wish we’d all get it and get over it.” Then there’s the others who are like, “I’ve barely been anywhere since March. I steer clear of people, places and things.” So which is it? Do we hide or do we continue on with our fingers crossed?

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Just like predicting the weather

Published by admin on Tue, 09/01/2020 - 10:00am

If you read my weather story on page 1 of today’s paper, you may feel more enlightened about how weather forecasting works. I know I do. It’s something that’s been bugging me for a while, and now a lot of things suddenly make sense.

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Maybe this is rock bottom

Published by admin on Mon, 08/24/2020 - 11:00am

The Thursday after the derecho hit, I went to check out an auction happening down in Colo. To get there, I had to drive past Zearing on Highway 65, which took me through a pile of grain-bin debris scattered on both sides on the road. I had been scouting other derecho damage earlier in the week, but this looked to be the worst I had seen. Union and New Providence were pretty bad, but this may have topped that destruction.

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After destruction, people always prevail

Published by admin on Fri, 08/21/2020 - 2:00pm

We sat in sunny Iowa Falls and heard the news report that a large hail event had just blown through Eldora. Without a thought, three of us hopped into the car and headed south so we could see for ourselves. We just couldn’t believe it could be so nice in one part of the county, while a hailstorm was happening in another. This was in 2009, and we had no idea just how severe the damage was and what we were about to see.

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Getting more done with less time

Published by admin on Wed, 08/12/2020 - 9:18am

Before signing on as News Editor at this paper, I hadn’t worked outside the home for 13 years. I sold small antiques and collectibles online, so I did have a job, I just didn’t have to go anywhere to do it. The mailman did his daily pick-up and I printed my labels at home, so the only thing I had to do was get everything ready for him.

However now that I’m a full-time employee who has to get up, get ready and get out the door every day to make it to work on time, I realize just how much other time I wasted doing nothing. That’s a lot of time… just wasted… doing nothing.

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Getting more done with less time

Published by admin on Tue, 08/11/2020 - 3:00pm

Before signing on as News Editor at this paper, I hadn’t worked outside the home for 13 years. I sold small antiques and collectibles on-line, so I did have a job, I just didn’t have to go anywhere to do it. The mailman did his daily pick-up and I printed my labels at home, so the only thing I had to do was get everything ready for him.

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Anonymous letter not so anonymous

Published by admin on Tue, 08/04/2020 - 3:14pm

I received an anonymous letter at the office a week or so ago. It was typed in all caps – using an actual typewriter – on what looked to be stationary. The writer didn’t want to be “a correspondent,” they just wanted to know about certain things that were going on around town, and they wanted to know why I hadn’t reported on them.

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Controlled burn of old day

Published by admin on Wed, 07/29/2020 - 11:00am

I was reading either the police or sheriff’s log sent over last week and I noticed a tiny typo. Someone had called in a “controlled burn of old hay,” but it was typed into the log as “controlled burn of old day.” I chuckled. Wouldn’t it be nice to do that… just burn away from memory or certain incident of an old day? Not the whole day, maybe just one or two things.

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COVID-19 has just wrecked everything

Published by admin on Tue, 07/21/2020 - 2:00pm

I’m getting a little antsy. Usually at the end of July or beginning of August, it’s vacation time for me. A big one was planned this year too, until this COVID-19 business showed up. And it was going to be good. Everyone was going to meet in my hometown in Colorado to celebrate a couple of special birthdays.