Category Archives: Opinion

Spring is here with all its beauty as buds burst and seeds sprout. Maybe it’s the many gray winter days we had, but isn’t this spring especially beautiful and bright? Cynthia Ocelli has it exactly right: For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, It must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand...

I am a geezer now so I catch myself being a little grumpy. Mostly, it’s been things that have happened all my life, but now it bothers me. Automobile drivers make me mad. My wife and I were coming home from Des Moines last week on Interstate 80. I’m rolling 70-75 in the fast lane. Traffic...

I have returned from a great vacation to Washington, D.C. Just like here, we sometimes have a Pella Tulip Time Stem Festival because the tulips bloomed early, the cherry blossoms peaked early on Easter weekend, and it was the cherry blossom bare branch festival. Many things have changed, and many things are the same as...

By the time your read this, I will have returned from a vacation to our nation’s capital, including the Cherry Blossom Festival. Thank you to all the staff who made it possible to put this issue together (including dozens of garage sale ads and the map) without me. My newspapering began in my hometown of...

According to chocoholic.com, chocolate is a passion. You don’t just nibble or eat chocolate … you savor, experience, live … and at times, reluctantly share chocolate. Chocolate possesses mystical powers. Want to make a friend? Offer chocolate. Want to make up? Send chocolate. Want to heal? Take chocolate. Want to be popular? Give chocolate. Want to...

Sparky the Fire Dog®, the official mascot of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), marked his 65th birthday on Mar. 18. Sparky is legendary. Sparky the Fire Dog is a Dalmatian who has been the official mascot of NFPA, a United States organization in charge of creating and maintaining minimum standards and requirements for fire...

Happy Easter, everyone. I’ve been thinking on the importance of this very special weekend coming up, considered by those of Christian faith to be the holiest of the year. Does it all make sense to you? How did chocolate rabbits holding baskets full of purple, pink, and yellow eggs ever wiggle their way into this sacred...