Posted September 02, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
My mom always enjoyed a good funeral. Up until she was nearly 98, she traveled many miles to attend the funeral of someone’s mother or father, or aunt or uncle. Did she know them? Maybe — perhaps by the slimmest of threads — the mother of a friend of a
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Posted August 05, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
“I don’t believe in gnomes,” my granddaughter says. I nod sagely — not being a believer in gnomes myself. “But I do believe in fairies,” she says seriously. And there we have it. Magic. From the mouth of a child. As an adult, that magic bucket gets pretty depleted. There
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Posted July 01, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
“Dad, you’ll love the sauna. And then we’ll do the cold plunge.” She smiles at me and nods up and down waiting for me to mirror her. Yup, that’s how you talk to your ancient dad: slow with lots of nodding and guidance. And, if you didn’t know, a “cold
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Posted June 03, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
Listen, it’s going to look like I’m talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI), but don’t run for the hills, don’t wring your hands, don’t fret. Father’s Day is coming up. So I’m really going to talk about my dad. Trust me. Let’s start with my dad. “Mankind has seen only a
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Posted May 06, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
The sky is definitely falling. How do I know this? Because when we should be heading to the bunker, we’re going to instead fly eight miles high over an ocean in several hundred tons of metal. Yup, my wife and I are flying out of Iowa to visit our daughter
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Posted April 01, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
“Trouble (oh, we got trouble) Right here in River City (right here in River City)” — Meredith Wilson, “The Music Man.” Like most of you, I generally think I’m a decent person. I let people who are in a rush cut in front of me at the grocery store. I
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Posted March 04, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
“The Zen view is something you glimpse in passing and that comes as a surprise — to wake you to the moment and a flash of hidden truth.” Rivvy Neshama, “Recipes for a Sacred Life.” I started running again. Yup, I stopped about 1990 because of knees and back and
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Posted February 04, 2026in Joe's Neighborhood
“BE KIND!” OK, OK, I heard you the first time. And I do want to be kind, but I’m in a rush and I don’t want to be taken advantage of and shouldn’t I first be kind to myself? All arguments I have made over the years to justify NOT
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Posted December 31, 2025in Joe's Neighborhood
Jay Holstein died the other day. Most of you don’t know him. He was 87 when he died, and his time in the public eye had long passed. Or maybe you didn’t know him, but you heard of him when you were a college student. And, maybe even then, you
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Posted December 03, 2025in Joe's Neighborhood
My mom was a hoarder. And I don’t say that harshly. Listen, I’ve got my own problems. And my mom was not the worst hoarder I’ve ever seen. But her home does make for quite the excavation as we prep her house to sell after her death. For example, over
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