One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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It’s like I blinked and then all of a sudden winter happened. I found out very quickly upon moving here in 2012 that Montana Weather doesn’t play by the same rules as other states that I have lived in. I look outside today and think, there is no way winter starts on Thursday, December 21, when it is already here. When the second snow this fall hit last week and I had to uncover my car, I went from sneakers and a t-shirt to Muck Boots and an insulated hoodie. The roads at times can be tre...
One of the most outspoken characters in sports lately has been Lavar Ball, the father of Los Angeles Lakers’ point Guard Lonzo Ball. Lavar, a former college basketball player has been a pivotal figure in the basketball world for the past couple of seasons because his three sons Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo were three of the top basketball players in the country during their high school years and throughout Lonzo’s freshman season at UCLA. The father Lavar has been seen on many sports channels and on social media saying outrageous things inc...
Every once in a while I run out of things to write about. When that happens, divine intervention can come through at times. This time intervention came from a flick of the finger, as I cleanly removed a Box Elder Bug from the outside of my water cup. These Box Elder bugs have been pretty annoying. I admit they aren’t as terrible as cockroaches or some of the other bugs I have experienced but man are they creepy. When you see swarms of them outside, it’s gross but when you can’t even get away...
So, my wife left me. That sounded bad. I just meant she went on a two-day seminar to Billings. This means I was left alone with my three-year-old, which I have to admit was a little bit of a daunting task. My wife is my everything. She is my alarm some mornings. She is way more decisive about what we should eat (Whether I cook it or she does.) She is my emotional support. She is my best friend. And if something is lost, generally she knows where to find it. My wife is a miracle worker. Luckily f...
I don’t claim to be a rocket scientist. But every once in a while, you gotta use what the good Lord gives you. As many know by now on Monday, October 2, our county and Hill County got blasted by a snowstorm. In the opening hours of that snowstorm we lost satellite reception. We had never lost a signal prior to that day. I wanted to complain more than I had ever complained about anything. Then I immediately thought of how bad other people in our country and other countries are having it. Due to the storm, Havre was still without power on our r...
If you have a Facebook page, there is a good chance that you have been bumming me out. No, not because I am a liberal snowflake, but because people, many of which I know from here or anywhere else I have lived are being really ugly to each other. I am not “liberal” and I for sure can’t support the direction of the “conservative.” I’m a pacifist, who understands that we need to listen to one another rather than jump to a political agenda. I have said it once before and I will say it once again;...
I think we could all learn something from kids. I don’t claim to represent all of African Americans but a couple of weeks ago I had the chance to share what I thought about current events at a local high school. The opportunity came thanks in part to a responsive column I wrote about confederate monuments about a month or so ago. The kids and teacher of that class were interested in why I wrote what I wrote and also presented me with several other questions. When I first received an email statin...
I had the honor to discuss a column I wrote a few weeks ago with some students at a local high school. It was a privilege and an honor to field the many questions that were thrown my way. One of those questions was about how I became a writer. The question triggered a response I am not sure many saw coming. I am an uneducated writer, meaning I did not go to school to become a writer or journalist. My disdain for writing started in grade school and didn’t really leave until I started working f...
When my wife wanted to squeeze in a drive to Tennessee and then Missouri to our vacation I reverted back to being a two-year-old. To me there was nothing appealing about spending 60 hours of precious vacation time on the road. To make matters worse, before the vacation I had to give myself an early deadline for our Fall Sports Preview and knew that I would be exhausted before we would head to Chicago. I’m not a road warrior. I get antsy and bored when I have to drive anywhere over an hour a...
As a lot of people know, I am from the Chicago-land area, so I can’t comprehend the southerner’s take on Confederate flags and monuments. (Before you continue, re-read the previous sentence twice if needed and then consider this is from a different point of view.) I do know that growing up I was taught of the south’s rebellion that led to our Civil War. It is great that some people want to remember something terrible from our past. I get it, southern pride. But whenever I am in the presence of a...
I have a love hate relationship with corn. Yes the grain. Growing up in the suburbs around Chicago, I have seen my share of corn fields. I have been on road trips throughout the state of Illinois and if there was one theme it could’ve been cornfields. My friend Owie even tried to rap about them once. I have eaten many corn kernels in my life. Whether it be canned, casseroled, popped, high fructosed, etc.., I owe a few of my pounds to corn. I can’t even tell you how many times, I have heard bas...
When local summer camps hit, it is a fresh reminder that school is right around the corner. Last Wednesday I visited the North Country Basketball Camp as well as the Mustang Football Camp. Both camps had a decent amount of participants. It was great seeing all of the youth in both of these camps, but it also reminded me of how long I have been here in Phillips County. I know in the grand scheme of things that five years is not a long time. I also know that some of these kids have grown a lot in...
I am not often the one to follow certain trends but I caved and bought a fidget spinner. The funny thing that I have noticed as I get older I have often looked at some of the trends that the younger generation is trying to popularize and have thought, man, that’s stupid. I can tell you one thing; I will not be wearing a romper this summer or any summer for that matter. If you are a grown man that can wear a “casual” onesie in public, power to you. But for one thing I can’t fit in a onesie...
Before the 2017 Gospel Jamboree, I did not think I could have anything in common with anyone in the Bluegrass community. Boy, was I wrong. From a musical aspect, I had never played Bluegrass music but I could relate to a few aspects of being a Christian traveling musician. My wife and I had a conversation with a young 22-year-old from one of the groups. This young lady had a desire to be in a marital relation one day. Even from a young age both Susan and I could relate to wanted to be with a...
My parents came through for a few days. My real parents. You have no idea how awkward it is when people assume that my parents are around Malta when in actuality it was just another African American that I have never met in my life. It is awkward and yes it happens. If you think that you saw my parents here around Father’s Day, yes it probably happened. It lifted my spirit to see or should I say hear my folks coming down the street. They had a piece of their Buick’s undercarriage scraping the...
Get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn’t that kind of drive. I blew a tire for the first time. I admit I should’ve seen it coming, knowing that my tires had struggled to hold air in the winter months. During spring my tires performed a lot better but on a weekly trip to pick up the papers in Havre, I passed a vehicle going a somewhat reasonable speed when I knew something wasn’t quite right. The blowout wasn’t as dramatic as I thought one may be. I made it safely to the shoulder but the roa...
A customer came in and noticed a Happy New Year sign at the PCN, reminding me that we are about halfway through 2017. This sign also reminded me of how a new year is typically stereotyped as a point of change. At this halfway point, I have noticed I haven’t done anything to change myself. I looked at the scale and I have never been heavier. I think most of us have had that moment where you look down at the scale and your eyes bulge through your head. I had that moment about a month ago. S...
Some sad news hit my family the other day. My godmother passed away and I have been pretty bummed out. I am thankful that my parents are still alive and that we never needed to use her for finding a new home after the unthinkable happened. My godmother was one of my mother’s best friends growing up and she was named godmother for myself and my two brothers growing up. She became one of our favorite adult figures growing up. She was a strong spiritual figure, praying for us every day, even b...
Somehow, something that was a tedious and sometimes strenuous chore became an experience that I never saw coming. My wife and I had been talking about upgrading our mower that cost me a whopping $35 a couple of years ago. I thought that it would be something that we would get in a couple of years due to other expenses we have as homeowners. But a couple of weeks ago it happened. This was after I was annoyed with my first attempt at mowing my yard this year. I was so annoyed that my bagger would...
Sometimes being a photographer takes you weird places. I received a phone call from a loan company earlier this year to become an inspec-tor. Initially I was annoyed that an out of state company would approach me while I was struggling with a bout of writer’s block. That was until I found out that it could help someone that needed a person in my position. I called back the company who needed my services to accept the short job. I’m glad I did because in minutes I was transformed into an ins...
Man is it tough to be a Bears fan. For those that missed it, in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Bears originally had the third pick of the draft. With so much talent of defense and our lack of forced turnovers last season, I and many other Bears fans expected our GM to draft the draft’s top safety or cornerback. While watching the draft, I waited patiently expecting the 49ers to draft Stanford’s Solomon Thomas with the second overall pick. Then it happened. The Bears traded from the...
Sometimes social media videos can bring out all kinds of emotions in people. No, this isn’t about our President, but it is linked to America’s past time. Now that I’ve cleaned up my Facebook page from obnoxious keyboard politicians things are looking up. My page has since been overrun with sports and cute animal videos. I never in a million years thought I would enjoy videos of cats and baby goats but seeing my two year old react to those things is priceless. I also stumbled across some video...
My dog Brucey gave me a friendly reminder of why I need to clean up after myself. Last week, my wife bought me an early Father’s Day gift that was two years in the making. It’s no secret that I love smoking meat, so many of you already know what it is. Last year, I was supposed to get a new grill but scared of the price of that grill, I picked up a second hand grill for a fraction of the cost. That grill has served my family really well over the past year and has accumulated countless hours of u...
Since moving to Malta, I have been intrigued with the wildlife around the area. I am relieved to say that I have not encountered any predators like wolves or bears yet living in the bustling metropolis that is Malta, but I have seen a few things that I haven’t encountered in the Chicago land Suburb I call my hometown. The first animal I saw here was the controversial Buffalo. Somewhere around Fort Peck, my then fiancée Susan and I were on a double date with her parents and we pulled up to an ar...
Since moving to Malta, I have been intrigued with the wildlife around the area. I am relieved to say that I have not encountered any predators like wolves or bears yet living in the bustling metropolis that is Malta, but I have seen a few things that I haven’t encountered in the Chicago land Suburb I call my hometown. The first animal I saw here was the controversial Buffalo. Somewhere around Fort Peck, my then fiancée Susan and I were on a double date with her parents and we pulled up to an ar...
