It’s spring. For many, spring’s announcement is the appearance of flowers and the greening of grass. For me, it is piles and piles of brown leaves. My Texas Live Oak trees shed leaves in the spring leaving behind the growth that provides respite from the summer sun’s assault. This year the Texas freezer week in February stripped branches at one time. We [...]
The past year left us with a problem. What are we going to do now? Washington Irving wrote the story of a man who goes to sleep only to wake 20 years later. He discovered he missed so much, such as the American Revolution. He lived in a different world than the one he left. His name was Rip Van [...]
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I’ll love ya tomorrow, it’s only a day away. -From the musical Annie- Tomorrow. We bet on it. Free time sprouts. Problems vanish. Life relaxes. More money. More friends. Weigh less. The problem is tomorrow never comes. It only arrives in the disguise of today. A hamburger joint hung a sign designed to draw customers. It read, “Free burgers [...]
Scott Thompson's family has farmed the Wisconsin soil for over 70 years. He usually plants strawberries. Then, in the fall, he grows raspberries and pumpkins. This year, his crop looked different. He planted joy. You can't plant joy, but you can plant sunflowers. Thompson planted 22 acres of sunflowers. Thompson Strawberry Farm attracted families who picnic, wander fields of florals, and take [...]
In the 1860s, the merchant marine fleet of England suffered many losses. Ships sank in record numbers. Many sank in the harbor. It fell to Samuel Plimsoll, a young naval officer, to spot the problem. As long as a ship had space, cargo kept coming. Soon, the weight pushed the keel lower until it sank beneath the waterline. Plimsoll had the solution, [...]
All of us sit on a powderkeg of emotions. The worst of all is anger. Anger throws bricks through windows. It speeds up behind another driver, draws a gun, and starts shooting. It slaps a wife, batters children, and burns forests. It holds a keyboard as it types bitter all-cap letters into Twitter or Facebook. Harsh words wound. All are the results [...]
Tick…. Tick…. Tick… The clock counts down to midnight to close out the weird year 2020. For most, it is something to forget. It’s essential, though, to start a new year better after such a challenging year. We should take our cue from the Romans, who created a god to express what we all feel. He had two faces. One looked backward, [...]
This final week of the year is my annual “review and preview” time. I look at what I have done and then top the hill to look at the year ahead. In the review of the year, one of the vital questions is: What one word or phrase best sums up and describes your experience this year? How would [...]
After a trying year, the joy we share overwhelms the inconvenience of COVID-19 and all that went with it. Have a wonderful and safe Merry Christmas! -Robert G. Taylor- P. S.--For a fun story for Christmas, click here to read The Gift.
This year has been a strange year. It was a paradox of having more time at home and less time to read. But through it, I wove several titles into my reading schedule, whether audiobooks or paper books. While I get value from all books in some way, specific titles shape thinking in unique ways. They point out better ways to lead, [...]
