FILE PHOTO Veteran’s Day 2020 had a different feel as veterans and residents physically distanced at a ceremony in front of the Creswell memorial and fire station. “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all…

Need a penny? Take a penny. Have a penny? Leave a penny.  Sentiments often seen at convenience stores, usually scrawled on a piece of paper next to a dish with a few pennies, nickels and dimes.  Is it just a simple way to help others?…

Blum “Waist deep in the big muddy, and the big fool says to push on.”   – Pete Seeger The Fool referred to in the above lyric was President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who, despite sober assessments that the war in Vietnam was unwinnable, continued escalating…

There is not enough candy in the world to sugarcoat this year. The pandemic has blanketed our lives with a slime that sops us to our fingertips. It’s been 10 months and we’re still trying to scrub it off.  We can probably agree that we…

Blum “It’s coming on Christmas, they’re cutting down trees, they’re putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace, Oh I wish I had a river, I could skate away on.”    – River,  Joni Mitchell We received our first Christmas letter the day…

Blum How did you spend your Thanksgiving week? The Monday before Thanksgiving, I experienced an abdominal attack that was so concerning we called 911 at two o’clock in the morning. Thirty minutes later, a welcome cavalry of ambulances and EMT’s showed up at our door…

Paulson We’re marking a hidden holiday, as uncelebrated as it is unappreciated. It was 229 years ago that the United States ratified the Bill of Rights, ensuring unprecedented freedom for the people of an emerging nation. Bill of Rights Day has actually been a national…

I met a woman this week who will be turning 50 years old next year. She asked me a few questions about her sign and wondered about next year’s influence of the moon on her sign. She and her mother faced a few rough years,…