Opinion

Too much gloom and doom in the news

Published by admin on Thu, 04/18/2024 - 1:13pm

I was sorry to see the NCAA tournaments conclude. Seems like the news has been nothing but gloom and doom ever since. There are no channels that let you relax and laugh a bit.
I am going to have to get into major league baseball. John had the Yankees on, it seemed like every night, and son #4 always watches the Dodgers, but I usually wait until the World Series. Something has got to change.

Gwendolyn Brooks / Ross Gay

Published by admin on Thu, 04/18/2024 - 1:13pm

National Poetry Month continues, so this week I returned to my pile of saved poems and decided to write about not one, but two: Gwendolyn Brook’s “To the Young Who Want to Die” and Ross Gay’s “Sorrow Is Not My Name.” Ordinarily, I wouldn’t choose to write about two different poems from two different writers at the same time, but the fact is that one would not exist without the other: they are in dialogue with each other. And anyway, they’re both wonderful and very dear to me.

Letter to the Editor: We aren’t doing enough to stop bullying in schools

Published by admin on Thu, 04/18/2024 - 1:12pm

Dear editor:
School bullying is plaguing our children with ill health, causing depression, headaches, poor grades, along with the inability to focus on school work and becoming anti-social, not wanting to be part of school activities.
We need more education in our schools for our children about the impact school bullying is having on fellow students along with procedures that can be taken when someone is being traumatized due to school bullying. It should never be ignored.

Letter to the Editor: Dinosaur museum an opportunity to create lasting legacy

Published by admin on Thu, 04/18/2024 - 1:11pm

Dear editor:

The Long Journey Home: Broken

Published by admin on Thu, 04/18/2024 - 1:11pm

If it played out once, it played out a hundred times in my living room. “It was her fault Dad”...”No it wasn’t,  so and so made me do it”! These words rehearsed time and again in response to almost every situation imaginable.

Enjoying April showers

Published by admin on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 12:24pm

“Love Rainy Day,” “Singing in the Rain” and “April Showers,” I’ve been singing them loudly (in my head) for the past three days.
I know these April showers will bring May flowers; unfortunately, there are mostly dandelions in my lawn. My tulips and daffodils disappeared when we put in the new sidewalks.

The Peace of the Wild Things

Published by admin on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 12:22pm

April is National Poetry Month, so I decided to go through poems I saved and write about a few. I ended up settling on Wendell Berry’s “Peace of the Wild Things” because it really is one of my favorites and also feels like Spring, the season in which we are now, definitively, situated. (Don’t believe it? Look at all the road work, the true harbinger of Spring.)
Berry’s poem is short, so I’ll share it in full —

When what is celebrated is real, celebration is not soon over and done with

Published by admin on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 12:16pm

So many celebrations drown in preparations these days; in fact, often it seems that the preparations are the celebration, and the celebration itself little more than an afterthought, a moment in time, soon over with and forgotten. For that matter, it often seems that the celebration, soon to be over and done with, is more important than that which is celebrated.

Letter to the Editor: Reader enjoys Looking Back column

Published by admin on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 12:14pm

Dear editor:
In the March 28 issue of the Standard, there were two history lessons in Marlys’ Looking Back.  Well, maybe three:
1.  April 1954 was a long, long, long time ago.
2.  Diana Schutte - that’s me - received a $25 savings bond from the Elks.  The lesson: That $25 today would be $288!
3. Mr. and Mrs. Art Schutte were listed as my parents.  The lesson: Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, married women didn’t have first names.  They were always Mrs.  Somebody.  My mother’s first name was Idell.
Your OLD fan,

Pain: It’s no joke

Published by admin on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 11:55am

There is an old joke where a man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I do this. What should I do? To which the doctor replies, “Simple, don’t do that!” While the advice seems trite and maybe even insulting, like most jokes, there is some truth in it. Pain is one of the ways your body tries to protect you from even worse injury. Pain tries to keep you from walking on a sprained ankle or lifting things with a broken arm. In those cases, the advice from the doctor is accurate.