Category: Essay
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Praying Mantis
The other day before the weather turned cold and as the wasps who called our overhang were finally falling off due to the changing forecast, other critters began to show up. First it was a couple of orb spiders we named Charlotte and Miss Spider, spinning their webs anew each night for me to run…
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Stroll into Submission
It started off with something awful, an anecdotal incident that to the President was the last straw, apparently. This young guy who is known forevermore as “Big Balls” whose real name is Edward Coristine was carjacked by a couple of teens. The former staffer with the Department of Government Efficiency was essentially an excuse for…
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Has World War III already begun?
The latest strikes between Israel and Iran point toward the spread of global conflict. Should it be considered the start of a new World War? Or have we been in one and not recognized it? Albert Einstein is quoted to have said that he didn’t know what weapons humanity would use to fight World War…
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Dueling Socials
The moment I saw the headline yesterday afternoon, the first thing I did was call my mother to gloat. Not because I felt extreme schadenfreude over watching the war of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump playing out in real time. Instead, I was calling to gloat because I was right. “It won’t…
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The Big 4-0
I’ve been thinking about what to say about this year’s birthday, and honestly? What am I supposed to say? Middle age is a strange place to be, and I can understand a little more after the past few years how the concept of a midlife crisis comes about. Biologically the body might or might not…
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Election Day should be a National Holiday
Tinsel-covered decorations and sales are in full force all around the nation as Christmas is right around the corner. Dollar General down the way from the house didn’t even make it past Halloween this year before they began to push out the variety candy bags and replaced them with the red and green decorations for…
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Securing a digital past
Lately, I’ve been having to spend more time on family issues. Mostly surrounding my father, who is sadly afflicted with some sort of issues causing problems with some of his cognitive functions. We’ve been to doctors, but have no firm diagnosis of what is going on with him other than “we know he has some…
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Crying wolf over the weather
What is the most annoying thing in the world? Battening down the hatches expecting terrible disasters to fall on your head only to find that whatever storm was passing was basically a wet fart. Hurricane Helene a couple of weeks ago was on target to pass directly over Polk County at one point in the…
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Rivalries
I don’t care much for rivalries with exception to one: Auburn and Alabama. You can tell which side of the fence someone is on depending on how they order the two teams. I grew up wearing the Orange and Blue and screaming War Eagle during kickoffs amid a sea of Bulldog Red and Volunteer Orange…
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Acts of Violence
Our nation is built upon acts of violence, a fact we have a hard time accepting much less understanding. The nation was reminded on Saturday evening of our nature and the real consequences of radical polarization in politics within society. Unfortunately, that reminder came with real-life consequences as shots rang out at a rally in…