Greetings From Springfield: A Postcard
While writing a recent article about a childhood trip to Springfield, Illinois, I had an idea for a postcard. I was originally going to include it in the article itself, but as sometimes happens,...
Category: Life
The Mystery Bottle
Many years ago, my dad and I were walking along a sandbar in the Mississippi River. The river was unusually low, and there was quite a bit of detritus washed upon the sandy shoals....
A Train Ride to Springfield, Illinois
When I was eleven years old, we lived on a farm in rural Illinois. My dad worked for a law firm in Missouri, and one day he had to drive up to Springfield, Illinois...
My Favorite Birthdays
Today I turn 20, at least in hexadecimal numbers. And to celebrate my 0x20 birthday, I’d like to take a look back. Like Christmas, birthdays provide a landmark in the memories of life. I...
Texas: A Whole Nother Country
I’ve been living in Texas for over five years now, and it’s an interesting place to live. I never planned on living here this long, but at least for the foreseeable future, I don’t...
Gifted and Talented
Back in grade school, I got admitted to the “gifted and talented” class. Once a week, I went off to the school library for an enrichment session. It was supposed to give us a...
Penmanship and the Palmer Method
The Palmer Method still strikes fear in my heart. No other curriculum ever did so much to stifle my interest in a topic I found fascinating. I spent a good chunk of the third...
Playground Nazis
In the fifth and sixth grade, I went to school in East Carondelet, Illinois. It was a small town of 600 sandwiched between the Mississippi Levee and the MoPac Railroad. I loved my teachers...
A New Perspective
A couple of years ago, I sold most of my worldly belongings at an auction. I kept a couple of things, like some cherished childhood toys, but for the most part, I let everything...
Affirmations and Evil Genies
Back in college, I read a lot of self-help books. Some were scientific in their psychology. Others were full of New Age crap. Here’s one concept that doesn’t work. Affirmations. Closely related to the...
