A Sarajevo bullet
“Honestly, officers, I just forgot it was there.” Words I have heard many a guilty criminal utter as they are hauled away to jail. The 5-inch, copper-cased bullet [...]
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Posted May 25, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted May 18, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
How to eat a herring
“There are multiple ways of cleaning a herring. What I do is chop the head off, chop the belly off, make sure the skin is off, the fins are off. [...]
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Posted May 11, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
Tulips and cornfields
Iowa cornfields in late August are a thing to behold. Sure, I’m biased. I love the long formations of parading stalks, their dark green leaves turned dry and hard [...]
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Posted May 04, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
The bones of the Magi
We’ve been doing a lot of sinning lately, don’t you think? Sure, most are lazy sins, like poisoning our water and hating immigrants and trying to take health care from [...]
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Posted April 27, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
The Ambassador
This part of The Hague was new to me. The reddish-brown bricks in the road still held the last drops of rain as I peddled toward the cafe where we [...]
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Posted April 20, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
Thoughts from an outdoor cafe
An outdoor cafe in early spring in Holland. The hat comes off first. Your head drops back. Your eyes shut. Your surroundings disappear. And all you feel is the [...]
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Posted April 13, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
Prague in 3 acts — an Iowan’s view
The street is tight with tourists. Some jostling rudely, some floating adrift, some wary of every brush of the pocket, and some, of course, looking to brush your pocket. But [...]
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Posted April 06, 2016in Featured Story, Joe's Neighborhood
Tulips and candles
Temperatures continue to drop this day in late March. It is now below freezing, and the drizzly rain has turned sharp with just an edge of ice. The grey [...]
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Posted April 01, 2016in Joe's Neighborhood
National crisis looms — dramatic shortage of groups to hate
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing [...]
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Posted March 23, 2016in Homepage Cover Story, Joe's Neighborhood
The Dutch bike
The Dutch bike stands outside the bike store just off the Frederik Hendrikplein in The Hague. Solid. Sturdy. Immovable. It is unclear if the bike is resting against the wall [...]
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