Category Archives: Feature

The Obituary for Dusty the Duster Dusty is the nickname my family gave to the 1974 Plymouth Duster I’ve driven to work for several years. Dusty was born Dec. 15, 1974, and died quite fittingly on Friday, Oct. 13, 1995. I remember when we got Dusty. Her body was shiny blue without a scratch. My oldest daughter...

DZ Analyzes the Blizzard of ‘96 It will be a long, long time before a lot of people, including me, forget the blizzard of Jan. 26, 1996. I left home for work in Grinnell that morning, and the weather was fairly clear. I got to Grinnell, jumped in a semi-truck, and took off for Pella and...

Waiting For Christmas It is about 350 days until Christmas and I, for one, am quite happy about it. I know I sound like Scrooge, but it’s just more hassle than it’s worth. The most expensive gift I received this year was some kind of battery-powered blood pressure reading machine. It’s a little box with a digital...

I once had the sad experience of having to put my old German Shepherd to sleep. I bought him 13 years before when he was six weeks old. He would fit in a bread box when I brought him home. One and a half years later he weighed 140 pounds and would barely fit into the...

From July 2002 Hawaii At Last I’m starting this article as my wife and I are flying to Hawaii for a week’s vacation. We are nearing the California coastline and about to start out over the ocean. There are over 300 people on this monster airplane, half of which are in line to use the bathroom. We left...

Last Christmas With Dad Christmas is finally here. It is a day that has happy and sad memories for me. We all know it is the birthday of a baby that had more impact on the world than any other birth before or after. It’s also the day my dad passed away in 1975. Even though it...

Christmas Preparation I know Christmas is supposed to be a very happy, exciting time of the year, but there are a few things about the season I detest. I have, however, learned over the years to make changes in how I do these few things that make them less undesirable. The first is shopping. I hate to...