Death comes in threes
My mom, born in rural Iowa during the depression, has certain rules that allow you to magically control the uncontrollable. I love it. For example, because the weather is fickle, [...]
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Posted July 05, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted May 31, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
The Irish Potato
So… what about the potato in Ireland? “You call them fries, we call them chips. What you call potato chips, we call crisps.” Emmett Maher, the restaurant manager at Beshoffs [...]
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Posted May 03, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
I know it’s not a competition, but still…
The dark blue Irish Sea, streaked with light on the cresting waves, moves far below my winding cliff path. Listen, I get that people love the ocean. Of course, it’s [...]
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Posted April 05, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Learning to ski for those older than 65 and for those younger than 5
The students are cautiously lining up. They are dressed in pinks and blues and reds and purples and whites… and, look, there’s someone in a sparkling glitter affair good for [...]
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Posted March 01, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
A red ball mystery
“Could I help you, hon?” I don’t know. As an old man, the bright florescent world of Target presents several unique challenges — like where in this giant warehouse is [...]
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Posted February 01, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
A recipe for creating nostalgia
“Ah, the good old days.” Did I really just say that? Knocking on the door of nostalgia seems a bit of a trick bag. One person’s treasured memory is usually [...]
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Posted January 04, 2023in Joe's Neighborhood
Why travel?
“It’s not opening,” my wife says with just a tinge of panic as the glass doors allowing us to leave the Paris train station stay firmly closed. That’s not the [...]
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Posted November 30, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
Indomitable spirit
Rich Krumme died the other day. Most of you don’t know him. He farmed outside of Des Moines, near the small town of St. Marys, far from stoplights and Starbucks. His [...]
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Posted November 02, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
Looking for Hemingway’s grave
“It’s somewhere in here,” says my friend as she turns her car into the small cemetery, “but I’m not sure where.” No one is around. The smell of aspen trees [...]
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Posted October 05, 2022in Joe's Neighborhood
The gift of whimsy
Don’t get me wrong, there are serious problems in the world, and serious people are needed to keep us from killing ourselves and killing each other and to make sure [...]
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