I’m doing my best to keep our heads above water but I’m not a superhero — The four of us have been self-isolating together for 298 days. After so long, days blur, blend, mesh and take alternative forms, and all we have left to do is argue with each other. In the beginning, it didn’t feel so hard. We had just emerged from Iowa’s traditional subzero…

A reflection on the damage opioids can do — My mother died as an opioid addict at the age of 53. I don’t know when her addiction really began, but I’ve come to realize that she self-medicated to escape. I have a vague vision of her at one time being the mother I needed her to be, but I’m…

Uncertainty should be scary, but it’s been too long and those effects have since worn off — The first feature story I picked up as a syndicated freelancer with Gannett was on a man who was retiring after 56 years of employment with the same manufacturer. Making metal milk crates by hand, Gary started working there two weeks before his 18th birthday in 1963. He was the…

The story of how we lost an ordinary farmer, elected state senator, to the Grand QAnon Party — Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain. — State of Iowa Across the pond, through the study window, I see an American Flag at half staff rustling in the wind. It’s been at half staff since November 7, 2020, the day the U. S. declared President Biden…

When did we become dismissive of humanity? — It wasn’t too long ago that I lived in a place where death notices printed by the public library were pinned to bulletin boards in the market, gas station and farm supply store. Operations shut down by noon on Saturday in anticipation of the evening death knell. …

A Medium story about Medium — Remember when Medium was a social media blogging platform? This logo represents when I started a Medium account. Old school techniques to build a following where word of mouth, clicking on tags and submitting your work to publications. If you enjoyed reading a piece, you’d tap the little green heart…

Most of us just want to get through each day — “And acceptance is the answer to all of my problems today. When I am disturbed, it’s because I find some person, place, thing or situation — some fact of my life — unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place and thing, or…

Using the same type of evaluation when assessing an immediate threat to a community, I’ve compiled a list — If you haven’t heard, the Iowa GOP wants you to believe that illegal immigrants are crossing the border with backpacks full of drugs and unloading them in Iowa. This misinformation has spread like the plague. I do not know why someone would risk their life to get to the border…

And how long are we going to sit around and wait for problems to resolve themselves? — I’m a member of a local activism organization. The other members think I’m “extreme.” I live in rural Iowa. There’s roughly two dozen of us in a group made up of mostly farmers, senior citizens and less than a handful of younger folks. After our state senator dodged us, I…