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Overcast and Breezy ~ Feels like: 19°F Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 |
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Happy (fill in the blank)
Posted Wednesday, December 14, at 9:01 PM The Christmas I was 8 years old and teetering on the brink of an "is-he-or-isn't-he real" belief in Santa Claus, I was very concerned that if my parents were telling the truth, Santa might not find me or my sister and brother. We lived at the time in the city of Tripoli, Libya, where an abundance of palm trees and sand took the place of snow and bare-branched oaks and maples, and I thought it was very possible that the old fellow might zoom right past us without so much as a backward glance...
"I had my dreams, sure. What tadpole doesn't have dreams?" Skip Hoppenjan of Marshall, formerly of Sonoma, Calif., leans back and crosses his legs, sitting on a rock ledge at a local water garden. Time hasn't been kind to Hoppenjan, his once-green skin shining silver in the late afternoon sun...
And speaking of justice... I'm a big fan of "cop" shows, or "police procedurals," as they're called in the trade. Let me run through the TV schedule and see a "CSI," a "Law and Order," an "NCIS," even a re-run, and I'm there. I could watch them all day long, and I have, when I have nothing else to do...
Pledging our allegiance "I pledge allegiance to the flag ... " The Pledge of Allegiance we recite today isn't quite the same as the original Pledge of Allegiance. The current wording of the pledge has a surprising, and surprisingly short, history. Written by Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, it first appeared in 1892, in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, a children's magazine, as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus...
"Snowmageddon" 1973 On the evening of April 8, 1973, the weather in Platteville, Wisconsin, was seasonably cool. Spring comes later in that part of the world than it does here in mid-Missouri by two or three weeks -- sometimes even later. I don't remember paying much attention to the weather forecast as I dressed to attend an orchestra concert at the college where my then-husband taught music. ...
You want stories about gas prices? I got your stories right here. May 30, 2008 -- Gas prices are up and we don't like it, even though it happens about this time every year. http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1433149.html Aug. 7, 2008 -- Gas prices are coming down and we like it. http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1451094.html...
The real "General Hospital" The doctor's lips were moving, but most of the words went right past me. As soon as he said "stroke," I didn't hear another word for several minutes, so I missed "possible" and "mild." The doctor might as well have been talking to a department-store mannequin...
Let there be light(s) Since I was a child, I've always loved the look of a single candle in each window of a house for Christmas. It's an elegant look, but very homey at the same time. It's warm and inviting and sophisticated, but simple. But, of course, nothing is ever as simple as it sounds...
Jukebox Democracy It's sometimes difficult to remember, particularly during an election year, that ours is a free country, where the majority rules and everyone can vote. And we are fortunate that, despite the ups and downs of one political party or another, despite our best attempts to sink the ship of state, America has managed to survive wars, depressions, recessions and a host of Congressmen and women and governors, presidents and other public officials who were not worthy of our support by hanging on to that democratic ideal.. ...
"Mision Cumplida, Chile" Awesome. Surely the most over-used word in the English language. "Oh, honey, your meatloaf is awesome!" "Did you see the awesome convertible that just went by?" "We had an awesome time on our vacation." Barely a day goes by that I don't see "awesome" posted on a Facebook page or hear it somewhere, casually tossed out for the most minor accomplishments or events...
Who says 'Nothing's going on in Marshall'? It was only a few weeks after I moved to Marshall 4-1/2 years ago that I met then-Mayor Connie Latimer and Marshall Democrat-News publisher Shelly Arth at a couples golf outing. Apart from the enjoyment of playing golf on a lovely day in mid-May, I enjoyed the company of both women and their partners, never dreaming our paths would soon cross professionally...
Logical Mom - an angel in the outfield Two years ago, as I was wandering the grounds of the Missouri State Fair, someone hijacked my e-mail address and sent a message to everyone on my contact list that said I was stranded in Britain and needed immediate financial help. At least 5 or 6 people immediately called me...
Close Encounters of the Animal Kind Now that the long, slow slide into winter has begun, early-morning light is in short supply before actual sunrise at 6:12. It isn't really dark for an hour before that, of course, but it isn't really fully light yet. But even when it's pitch-black at that hour, even in the rain or snow, and especially when it's Sunday, nothing gets between my husband and me and the morning paper...
Nothing but flowers I like flowers. I also like children, but I do not chop their heads and keep them in bowls of water around the house. - George Bernard Shaw In the two weeks before my grade-school graduation, the 18 girls in my class were very concerned about when the peonies would bloom. Those girls who had them in their gardens at home reported daily on their condition, amid speculation that they would be too early -- or worse, too late...
"Speak, that I may see thee." "Language most shows a man; speak, that I may see thee." Ben Jonson Before Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press with movable type around the year 1440, books were largely produced one at a time, copied by hand. The concept of owning a book was a foreign one to the average person, since most could not read. ...
"Breaking up" is hard to do About five minutes from now -- or so it will seem to the parents -- high school grads all over the country will head for college. Highways everywhere will be clogged with moms, dads and grads in cars and SUVs loaded down with bedspreads, coffeepots, clothes new and old and full of high expectations that Junior or Junior Miss is bound for academic glory, followed by a stellar career as a rocket scientist...
Those shifty, twisty age milestones When I was 18, back in the Dark Ages, it was the age of thirty that was considered a milestone birthday, and no one my age wanted to reach it. The battle cry was "Never trust anyone over 30." None of the young men and women my age wanted to be part of the "establishment," and that, to our young eyes, was anyone a mere 12 years older than we were. Thirty? We'd never be thirty -- it was miles away...
Ban the Bible! In the fall of 2006, Marshall's public library was in the midst of a controversy about removing two books from its shelves. "Blankets" and "Fun Home" are graphic novels that some residents found offensive. Here is just one of the stories on that debate: www.marshallnews.com/story/1171005.html...
It happened almost 50 years ago, in the winter of 1961. One minute, I was a shy and innocent schoolgirl, and the next, I was a wild, uncontrollable adolescent temptress, bent on corrupting my classmates. And on top of that, I was a liar. At least, that's how Sister Mary Alice saw it...
Is it a crime wave? A reporting surge? Or both? In the last year or so, The Marshall Democrat-News has published more stories than it used to about crime in the city of Marshall and throughout Saline County. The newspaper has always covered court news. Even if we don't do a longer story on a specific case, we report the disposition of cases in the Circuit Court and the Associate Court in our weekly "At the Courthouse" feature...
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Kathy Fairchild graduated from Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa, in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. She is also a 2003 graduate of the paralegal program at New York University.
She moved to Marshall in 2006, following a career of more than 30 years with the world's largest farm equipment manufacturer.
She is a member of Marshall's Rotary Club and sits on the University of Missouri Extension Council for Saline County.
Hot topics Happy (fill in the blank)(15 ~ 10:03 PM, Dec 26)
The OTHER Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, with apologies to M. Twain
And speaking of justice...
Pledging our allegiance
"Snowmageddon" 1973
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