Billions of years ago, the universe became. In the aftermath of that fraction of a trillisecond of violent becoming, deadly gasses, dust, and detritus coalesced to form galaxies. Eventually, in one backwater galaxy, Earth also became. Deep in its belly, Earth labored for thousands of millennia, slowly creating and re-creating itself. Through seismic collisions much […]
Notice: This is not a political post, but it is one about history. As people filed into the funeral home for my father’s service, I was reminded again how good are the people I grew up with and was mentored by in my hometown. It does take a village, and I grew up in a […]
Lo, on this day of Valentine When throngs of lovers overspend on plant-based products from Colombia Which sadly are not coffee and thus have no real value to humans I pay homage to my Spouse But not in the way in which she would prefer Because she cares not for my feelings For if she […]
Let me get this out of the way first: This is not a post about gun control. Okay, now we can move on. As I write this, the Mass Shooting Tracker has logged 373 mass shootings in America this year. Check here to see the current number. The tracker defines a mass shooting as any […]
This is Jack. Jack is 30 years old. Do not say, “Poor Jack.” Jack has a good life. Jack lives with Harold and Joyce in North Missouri. Jack has an entire pasture to himself, not counting deer and turkeys. No ones tells Jack what to do. No, sir. Jack taught a slew of grand kids how to […]
A snowflake was allegedly spotted 30 miles southeast of our city, so we’re on DEFCON 1 around here. Schools and a lot of business are closed. Since we humans no longer have to worry much about saber-toothed tigers or the Bubonic plague, I think we’re secretly excited about the dangers of puffy snow. But what […]
Dear Smithsonian American Art Museum, You guys are doing a great job there, storing old stuff adults can drag their kids to see. But many young ones don’t care. Imagine the carbon dioxide generated from all the dramatic sighs. If you combine the CO2 buildup contributed by your young visitors with that of the bloviators on […]
While late-summer cleaning at the Smith Estates, I uncovered a treasure trove of unpublished song lyrics. After you experience a small sampling of this lyrical magic, which I created as a teenager, you’ll wonder why I’m not churning out the hits in Nashville or L.A. If you’re not prepared to be in awe, go find a kitten video. (No […]
Dear Chumkee, We don’t know each other, but we have a lot in common. I just bought a new shirt at Stein Mart. Because you sew a ton of shirts every day, there’s a chance you made mine. Small world, huh? All my apparel originates from exotic locales. When I visited a small South American city […]
Dear Country of Colombia, It’s me, one half of Los Americanos Gigantes who recently visited your country. (My brother, Jeff, the other Gigante, is still there, somewhere. If you see him, point him north.) I had a very good time in your country. I was not surprised to learn tourism was up 12% last year. […]
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