Absent the coronavirus suddenly canceling spring training two weeks ago, today would have marked the start of the 2020 major league baseball season. It remains to be seen whether it will get going by mid-May. But whenever it does, I won’t be among those enthusiastically awaiting the event. It took years, but a combination of…
Read more
It was headlines news everywhere last week: the Stock Market suffered their worst one-day plunge in more than three decades as actions by President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve failed to stem panic over the coronavirus. I remember that previous day—Oct. 19, 1987—like it happened yesterday. We had just moved back to West Virginia…
Read more
With the stock market gyrations of late, the accompanying danger of a recession, and the future of the Summer Olympics still an open question, coronavirus has the earmarks of another worldwide pandemic instilling fear in the hearts of billions. The fallout affected two friends who had been scheduled to make trips to China this month.…
Read more
With more than a dozen states holding their primaries this week, the faux pas of the early February caucuses in Iowa is already fading into a mere memory. After all, the field of would-be challengers to President Donald Trump is quickly narrowing. So, most voters are likely to forget about the Byzantine selection process that…
Read more
I saw a story recently on NBC News about Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC, that is, but everyone I know still uses the long version) broadening its meatless chicken beyond a test market in Atlanta. In the coverage, I couldn’t help noticing the fast-food restaurant’s logo. Instead of the red hues part of its branding for…
Read more
Working with words for a living has sensitized me to the need for a second—even third or fourth—set of eyes on anything anyone writes. Especially my jottings. Good proofreading is indeed priceless. Several years ago, I drafted a blog that contained some deep personal significance. Soon after it posted, I sent a copy of the…
Read more
Since it’s self-published by Samaritan Ministries and initially printed in a modest quantity, Sharing the Burden isn’t likely to be a candidate for any bestseller lists in the near future. Still, having done two rounds of editing on this book, I can recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Christian healthcare sharing…
Read more
We’ve already slipped past the first month of 2020. But when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I’m a slow starter. In the crush of deadlines and year-end records, I rarely find time to resolve to do much new during the new year, other than keep pace with my “to-do” lists. Still, I think it’s…
Read more
The state of Louisiana and the southeastern Ohio town where star quarterback Joe Burrow grew up are cheering LSU’s just-concluded national championship football season. Yet, I can imagine the thrills are much more subdued for offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger. Losing a daughter-in-law in a plane crash the day of the semi-finals makes national accolades fade…
Read more
As I had feared for the previous two years, in October our local Sears store closed, following the path of hundreds of others around the country. Among them was the one in my hometown in northern Ohio. The “Retail Apocalypse” has become a reality. Alas, not only is Sears where I got our lawnmower, it’s…
Read more
