We all fall into the trap from time to time.
Our knees creak, our burdens seem too numerous and heavy to carry and/or we’re tired, feel over-worked and under-appreciated. We get crabby, and then we complain.
We may not even complain out loud, but we do so silently — to ourselves — as if that makes it any better.
Marathons are unique places and it’s that uniqueness that made Monday’s tragedy at the 117th Boston Marathon so difficult to process.
What if we could take March Madness and incorporate it into all other aspects of our lives? That is, what if we could seed those aspects from best to worst, just like it’s done with teams in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that’s going on now?
It’s easy to be a shooting star in any walk of life, to come out of nowhere to brilliantly light up the sky, and then, just as quickly, to fizzle out and disappear.
In the days leading up to it, the match-up between Lake and Jackson high schools Feb. 8 was being billed as the boys basketball game of the year in the Federal League.
There’s a lot happening out there, and I want to talk about it all. So this week’s column is an unrelated collection of a little of this and a little of that.
When Lynn Wess took over – for the first time – as the head boys basketball coach at Coventry High School in 1983, he said his goal was “to just coach as long as I could.”
I’m not a prude.
I was like any boy growing up in the 1960s in that I watched the TV show about World War II, “Combat,” every week. I don’t think I ever missed an episode.
I always try to paint with a broad brush, but sometimes I mess up and use one that’s too narrow.
Last week I offered the opinion that we should all listen to our elders because their years of experience with just about everything in the world gives them a perspective that is much broader – and better — than ours.
Sometimes we are fortunate to have a special person walk into our lives. They have an influence that lasts a lifetime and help make us who we are. We are better for having known that person.
Most of us will make New Year’s resolutions soon, if we haven’t already.
We’ll focus on the usual – losing weight, getting organized, being more forgiving, kind, patient – you know the list.
Every Christmas Eve for the last three years, my husband has suited up with the elves of the Portage Lakes Kiwanis Club to deliver presents in the area. But his suit isn’t red, and he doesn’t get to touch the presents. As a law enforcement officer, his suit is gray, and it’s his job to make sure Santa stays safe.
I wish I weren’t writing this. I dreaded writing this week and enlisted suggestions for column topics from friends because I was emotionally numb and procrastinated until far past my deadline.
So here I am, writing for the third time in less than two years about a mass murder committed by a lone gunman in the United States.
Anyone who knows me can tell you my favorite cartoon character is “Opus the Penguin” from the old Berkeley Breathed cartoon strip “Bloom County.” I have collected books, stuffed animals, shirts, cards and all sorts of Opus items. When I was teaching, my students could always expect several Opus items to be on display in my room.
