One good person, well-done
It’s the voice that grabs your attention. “Booming” seems too violent of a description. And “piercing” seems too irritating. But “arresting”? Ah, the voice does make you stop and look and check [...]
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Posted January 14, 2015in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted January 07, 2015in Joe's Neighborhood
A Winter Forecast
“The squirrel nests are high in the trees, have you noticed?” My mail carrier is a fairly sane looking man. Not a youngster by any means. He hustles every [...]
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Posted December 31, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
‘Should auld acquaintance be forgot…’
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?” Robert Burns. The concrete of the parking lot reflected the last rays [...]
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Posted December 24, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
A homemade sweater
“Why thank you. You are so kind to think of me. A homemade sweater. Yes, those are bright colors you knitted. Neon, aren’t they? Wow, look at that size. [...]
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Posted December 17, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
It isn’t personal
Entering into the public meeting on this early winter day in Iowa was reminiscent of visiting a new church eager for converts. Smiling faces greeted everyone at the door. Materials [...]
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Posted December 10, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
One cup of Iowa nice
Nothing seems to be free during the holidays. Your money appears to be made of a special paper that dissolves upon contact with air. Now you see it sitting crisply [...]
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Posted December 03, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
Home for the holidays
The fast train from Madrid, Spain, to Avignon, France, departing Monday afternoon. Train 9724, Car 1. Seats 71 and 76. Shoulder to shoulder, the men stood. Hundreds of men. Singing, [...]
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Posted November 26, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
Dear Food Dude
Honestly, I started out blaming you. Who wouldn’t? We were lost. Deep in the vineyards outside of St. Emilion, France. And vineyards are like cornfields — one row of grape [...]
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Posted November 19, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
Do you know Joseph Haymoff?
The curious, who were mostly French on this early November day, carefully made their way down through the hedges and brambles and thorny bushes of the steep embankment until the [...]
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Posted November 12, 2014in Joe's Neighborhood
A moral education
Great teachers are out there, folks. I’m talking about great teachers who are giants walking today’s earth. Great teachers who will make you lean in, or step back or gasp. Who, [...]
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