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Local Columns

A perfect pain in the rear

Okay, I’m a senior citizen now and I’m mature enough to admit to my faults. My jaws crack noisily when I eat apples and I snarf down popcorn too quickly. I bore my family by repeating jokes and personal anecdotes and my Dutch stubbornness and German temper sometimes get in the way of human ...

The big plate glass window where it all started

Did you have a childhood experience that precipitated your eventual adult career? I did. I remember the experience vividly. My family had moved from the farm into a two-bedroom apartment on the main street of Ellsworth in early February 1953. I had just turned five and enjoyed playing with ...

I used to be more exciting

On a recent Saturday night my wife went to bed around 8 p.m. and I planned on retiring for the evening around 10 p.m. We kissed each other goodnight and I was about to head for my recliner to watch a few more YouTube videos when I was struck by a sobering thought. “I was a lot more ...

With a little help from AI

It is no secret that AI has captured the imagination of most of us. It has, in particular, captured the imagination of the media. The gist of the media’s wonder is: How can we use AI? Well, in the interest of answering that question, I launched an experiment. I asked AI what we can do ...

A little bit of childhood

Sixty-five years ago one of the favorite things our mother would say to us was, “We’re going to Titonka (or to Wellsburg) Sunday.” Those were the Iowa communities where our grandparents lived. A trip to Wellsburg meant spending a Sunday with our maternal cousins and a trip to Titonka ...