Inklings

Blog

  • Accountability

    Forgive me for being a little cynical, but when did it become the health-care industry’s sole responsibility to take care of us? Aren’t we ultimately the ones that should be held accountable? I couldn’t help but agree with David Frum’s recent op-ed article on CNN’s web site regarding the proposed health-care legislation. The new year is right around the corner and many individuals will be pledging resolutions to live better lives. We all have a part in the health of, not only our own lives, but “your neighbors and countrymen as well.”

  • Auld Lang Syne

    Let’s hope the Christmas blizzard of 2009 (aka Snowmageddon) can be forgot. It’s a good thing we all went through Spring Training (it’s the only positive spin I could put on the March ’09 blizzard) because shoveling snow this past week has been all too familiar.With the side streets finally plowed, we’re no longer bound to a 1 mile radius of our home.

  • Read to Win

    One of the things that keeps us from going insane when the weather gets ridiculous is playing games. We spent the better part of Sunday playing board games. My brother-in-law has an affinity for more eclectic games and owns quite a number of them. It’s not uncommon for any of these games to come with a rule book that rivals most textbooks in length and depth. Most are steeped with strategic cunning and feature hardly any luck, so if you want to win you better be willing to know the game inside and out. That usually involves a lot of reading.

    We ended last night by playing a 3 hour game that involved more reading than playing… and strangely enough, it was fun. It makes me wonder if twenty years from now my own kids would be willing to play such a game. So much entertainment today is passive. When was the last time you heard a kid reading a book for fun? Right now our kids both like to read but they only associate it with school and not entertainment. I hope we can continue to encourage the reading habit with our kids.

  • Enough Already!

    I’m not surprised that winter in North Dakota brings record-breaking snowfalls, but does it have to happen over the Christmas holidays? The fact that Christmas has more-or-less been postponed due to the weather is a shot to the “Christmas cheer”. Yes, it will be nice when everyone is finally together, but a little of the magic is lost knowing that the day has come and went already. We’re really hoping things clear up tomorrow so the rest of our family can come home and the celebration can continue.

  • Merry Christmas!

    Christmas morning – there’s nothing quite like it! It seems no matter how late the kids get to sleep on Christmas Eve they still manage to explode out of a deep slumber in eager anticipation of discovering what Santa has left them! (Christmas trumps sleep every time.) All in all I think they were quite happy with Santa’s offerings. There were no bunny PJs from Aunt Clara or zeppelins this year but the boys did get a couple of potato guns. I’m happy to report that no one shot their eye out.

  • O’ Holy Night

    The Old Testament book of Numbers gives a Messianic prophecy of Christ’s coming. “There shall come a Star out of Jacob,” (Numbers 24:17) and the book of Daniel includes another prophecy (Daniel 9:25,26) letting the wise men know the time was soon. On the night of Christ’s birth, a mysterious light, a bright star, appeared in the western sky. The wise men again consulted the sacred Hebrew writings and were instructed through dreams to go searching for the Messiah. They didn’t know where to go at first, but they followed the star to help guide them on their way. The birth of Jesus is not only celebrated on Christmas Day but acknowledged by all who observe the year 2009.

  • Frightful Weather

    No need to dream of a white Christmas this year. By the looks of the forecast we’re getting plenty of snow for Christmas. Our thoughts go out to all those friends and family that have to travel in this weather. Hopefully no one’s plans have to change as a result. Safe travels everyone.

  • Christmas Giving


    Have you ever witnessed this happen? Or, worse yet, been the passer-by? I’m guilty of it. The Christmas Season is synonymous with the virtue of giving, so it’s not uncommon to be solicited for donations heavily during this month. We’ve been working hard as a family this year to really bring that idea to the forefront. After all, Christmas is not our birthday.

    Charitable giving is an area I know I can improve in and just when I think I’m doing okay and feeling pretty good about my efforts I read something that humbles me. Like the following quote from C.S. Lewis’s book “Mere Christianity”.

    ”I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them.”

    There’s something to think about before dropping the spare change I found on the floor of my car into the donation pail.

  • Kiss of Death

    Who doesn’t like Hershey’s kisses? It’s another classic American corporation that has been bitten by the reinvention bug. Product extensions have created for Hershey’s a new line of favorite flavors increasing their bottom line (and American waistlines), but how far is too far? Nobody really argued with Almonds, Hugs or even Mint. But now there’s Peanut Butter (giving Reese’s a run for their money), Cherry Cordials (the wife’s fave), Pink (for Valentine’s day) and Truffle. I thought they pushed the aluminum foil wrapped envelope a bit too far when they introduced Candy Cane. Let’s face it, Nog and Fruitcake probably aren’t that far off!

  • “Real” Frustrating

    I can only think of maybe two years of my childhood where we had a real Christmas tree. Real trees are, without a doubt, the most beautiful, traditional and aromatic seasonal centerpiece to a home’s decor during the holidays. For some reason, those Christmases as a child seemed extra magical, perhaps because it was something we hadn’t experienced before. My wife was raised with “real” Christmas trees, so it seemed very noble to revive the Rockwellian tradition of choosing a tree, strapping it to the roof of the car, “planting” it in the living room, and trimming it all while sipping hot cider to the crooning of Bing Crosby’s “Oh Christmas Tree”. Little did I know, beginning this tradition turned our first six Christmases into a marriage-building exercise.

    Maybe my inexperience in choosing real trees was the reason for the frustration we faced nearly every year. One year we picked out a beautiful seven foot pine – only to have it stand five feet tall after having to trim the trunk so it could be erected straight in the tree stand. Another year we had our tree last about three days before it shed nearly all of its needles onto the floor, with our decorations barely clinging to the wooden skeleton. One year our tree’s trunk was so large it split, unknown to us, the plastic tree stand. Every time we watered the tree, we were also watering the carpet, the presents and, later, our antique hardwood floors (we found this out just a few years ago when we pulled the carpet up).

    Seven years ago, just a few weeks before Christmas, we picked out our first artificial tree. It’s a decision neither one of us has regretted. It always stands straight and tall, never needs watering, doesn’t shed a bit and the best part of all – it looks real. In fact, if we scrub the floors with Pine Sol you’d swear it was. I know there are a lot out there that lambaste the idea of a “fake” Christmas tree, but for us it is truly Peace on Earth!