I overheard a conversation last week discussing the speed limit and crazy drivers lurking up and down the highways. The question came up, “Why does everyone think they can drive five miles an hour over the limit? Why doesn’t everyone obey the laws?” more

I never had a bike as a kid. I guess mom and dad couldn’t afford one for everyone. My cousin had a bike that he let me ride one time, but it was a boys bike and it wasn’t very pleasant. My brother also had a bike, but I couldn’t reach the pedals on it and I don’t remember him offering to let me try to ride it anyway. So now I have my own bike and am playing like I should’ve back then. I didn’t have a fishing rod either so we had sticks with strings or if we were lucky we got to use a cane pole when we went to the lake with dad. He let me use his spin rod one time. I didn’t know you could backlash it. I didn’t even know what that meant. I have my own spin rod now and my own fly rod. When we were kids because we didn’t have much money, we used our imagination to make a lot of things on our own. We made race cars with match boxes, tree houses out of old lumber and sheets or whatever we could find. And I didn’t look for snakes every time I stepped into the woods. more

This week in Dallas County history, as recorded in the Buffalo Reflex. more

I stand in front of our tombstone this month, looking at the dates, wondering when my death date will be inscribed. I often drive through the cemetery to check on my late husband. I’m not sure what I think good it will do. Is he suddenly going to appear? Did the grave move? Will tracing my fingers on his name bring solace and peace? more

New college freshmen parents grab the tissues and Ben Gay: Moving-in day is here or looming near. more

Sixty years ago I was in the summer of my first and only “bonus year” before life got serious. more

Do you remember a recent August when the grass was not crunching under our feet? Or as a town, we’ve about drained the water towers to keep the gardens alive? Not this year. more

What happens when you have to count on someone else to do something that you can’t. It’s kind of like the question, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I was about 11 or 12 when I asked my dad, who did masonry work, if I dug a goldfish pond, would he pour concrete in it for me. He was pouring the front porch the next day. He said if he had concrete left over that yeah maybe he would do that. So I stayed up till 2am digging a hole. I am sure it was comical for them to peek out and keep checking on me. At least I hoped they would. My sister wanted to go in and go to bed. Me being the brave person I was and given how dark it was with only the porch light, I asked her to just lay down on the dirt pile and go to sleep. Thankfully she did. The hole seemed big to me, but in reality it was only 10 to 12" deep and maybe 5' wide. It seemed like it was huge by the time I finished digging. My sister wanted to go to bed and I begged her to just lay down on the dirt pile and I’ll do all the digging. She didn’t have to do anything, I just didn’t wanna be in the dark by myself. I was digging by the front porch light. The next morning I was gifted some concrete and a borrowed trowel and went to work. The concrete was a little dry and pretty rough. But I did it and they let me. I think that set the foundation for goal setting and knowing all things are possible. Yes it was dug under a walnut tree and goldfish would not live long in it. But that did not matter to me. That little act I think probably set the foundation for knowing I can do things and challenge myself, even if sometimes it can be hard. more

Have you ever had someone drop in and overstayed their welcome? Or that person you’d rather not be around, who telephones you, but you can’t get off the phone. Agony ensues. more

I think it's fair to assume that we all know that what you eat is important, but did you know that it is also important who you eat with? Research shows that only 30 percent of families make eating together a regular occurrence. Shawn Stevenson, author of Eat Smarter, hypothesizes that the decline in family meals is related to the rise in ultra processed foods and personal technology. It’s not always easy to eat meals together, but it opens up a consistent time for family conservations and worship together. more

Last week, I was reminded of the pure, innocent magic that little girls possess. When they come together for the first time, it takes just a simple question: “Do you want to play with me?” and after about 60 seconds, they engage in a cooperative play that is a sight to behold. more

I grew up the small Webster County town of Elkland, but I never saw an elk anywhere near there. more

I recall, as a child, sitting in the pew and listening to the preacher discuss the missionaries in the undeveloped countries of the world. My imagination would soar thinking the natives were surrounded by lions and wearing beads and loincloths. Food would be cooking over an open fire, with men playing drums and women performing traditional dances. more

Little things remind me I am not of this century. more

I had a woman tell me once I was bossy. I was floored. In fact I thought she was loud and obnoxious, but I would never point out anyone’s faults or make them feel bad. I didn’t know where that came from and it was on my mind for days and made me feel like maybe everyone might think that about me. I never wanted to be around her again. It made me think of a famous quote from Maya Angelou, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Also, I was brought up to treat others as you want to be treated. The golden rule. Right? I carried this for days. I did not want to forgive because I was holding on to the hurt. But only I was suffering. She never knew the pain from a personal attack. When in fact I try to be a good person and thought we were friends despite our differences. Learning to forgive someone that has wronged you or hurt you is medicine for you. more

Sometimes, I get angry emails. It doesn't happen often, which is good because I don't try to inspire irritation. But when you write for the public every week for more than 20 years, you're bound to tick off a few people now and then. Want to know what topic has most often sparked unhappy responses? It's not politics. Not religion. It's snakes. more

Neither my kids nor my grandkids have gone long without air conditioning in summer. more

My husband and I just made a big road trip to Wisconsin with our three children. We are fairly spontaneous, so it wasn’t until the week before that we decided we were actually going. Learn from my successes and mistakes, here is some road trip advice for traveling with kiddos! more

When I was growing up, I had many dreams that evolved into goals, but other thoughts were dismissed as foolish ideas of an immature girl. By achieving these goals, I thought I would be happy. more

Growing up, volunteering was a way of life for me. Whether it was Dad going to the nursing home to conduct a religious service or Mom teaching at VBS, our family members volunteered. For our family lines, it’s like needing to drink water. Everyone volunteers. I hope that we have passed that down from our kids to our grandkids. more

As another Independence Day approaches I am mindful of the patriot foundations and shared heritage of our celebration. more

My older brother was one of those guys — a fireworks guy. Do you know one? A guy who loves fireworks so much that the 4th of July becomes more like Christmas — the most wonderful time of the year. For fireworks guys, “wonderful” goes “boom.” more

One thing for certain, now that I’m a white-haired old man, none of my neighbors will likely call to see if I can help haul in a few hundred bales of hay. more

If you have spent many summers in Buffalo, this time of year, the firebirds can be seen loading up the tents and boxes to set up firework stands across the country. What I call the Firebird migration is a mass dance that involves firework vendors traveling to towns with their campers and setting up large tents to celebrate Independence Day. more

I think we all want our kids to grow up and be successful. Whatever that may look like: relationships, spiritually, finances. But what about their health? I think that is another faucet that sometimes doesn’t get the prep work that it deserves. I am sure that you have heard “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.” People love to apply that to different areas of life, but what if we apply it to the health of our children? What if we teach them what healthy is, model it, and then they are prepared for life? more