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There are some creatures God created that I often wonder why? Mice are one of those creations. To me, they have no purpose except to be an unwanted rodent. There are those lovable cartoon character mice such as Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse but they never won me over. There is even the hero cartoon mouse, Mighty Mouse, but a mouse could never be a hero in my thinking. I never felt sorry for the children’s song characters, Three Blind Mice, and I approved of their demise. There is even a computer “mouse” but I never could figure out why. Living...
Sadly, this issue contains the last Panorama column, a popular feature written by a loyal and dedicated Jewell County resident, Fawna Barrett. I don’t know when the column first appeared in a newspaper but I suspect it originally was written for the Jewell County Republican newspaper published at Jewell. Fawna and Karen McIntyre were responsible for gathering the news, features and advertising for the informative newspaper. Through a series of consolidations and ownership changes, they eventually both came to work for Superior Publishing C...
Presenting Biblical answers to tough questions Q: I sometimes hear of well-known Christians renouncing their faith. How can this happen? Are they still saved? A: When a professing believer renounces the faith and walks away from God there are several possible reasons for it. It may be this person never actually trusted in Christ but lived among Christians as a pretender (I John 2:19). While practicing good works and trying to blend in, they never experienced genuine regeneration and fell away once they could no longer keep pretending (Matthew...
The weather . . . “Everyone likes to talk about it, but nobody can do anything about it.” For many years I was unhappy with the weather forecasters on television and the radio when the forecast they gave was wrong. Now . . . I just feel sorry for them as they have an impossible job. I thought I’d start this week with a little bit about the weather. Again, for many years I had listened to many folks talk about how “great” the scenic views were in the mountains or along the seashore. They were correct, there are tremendous sights in those pla...
By Teraesa Bruce Well, it’s been another mess of a week. Nicholas, the youngest of our two Omaha boys, was here this weekend. We finished his room just in the nick of time. George and Jacob brought his bed in and set it up just an hour before I arrived home with him. We had a good visit, and my sister-in-law and youngest nephew were down Saturday, and the two boys got along well. In the past, our relationship with Nickolas has been difficult. He went through a phase where he didn’t want to come to visit, and there were a few visits where he...
As many of you know, last week’s paper carried Mom’s final Panorama. She died Wednesday, Jan. 12, at peace with her life and faith, surrounded by family. She loved writing this column and would watch for something to catch her eye that she could write about to share with all of you. Her joy came in capturing “snapshots” of ordinary moments and making them special. Thank you for reading and enjoying her column over the years. She will be missed by all of us. – Fawna’s family...
Holidays bring back memories of my parents and grandparents, and how much they are missed. So many wonderful Christmas’ with my parents and the two sets of grandparents. We were blessed that my sisters and our children lived within close distance so we usually all celebrated together. My grandparents weren’t so blessed to be close to all their children and grandchildren, but most of those who lived within 50 miles made a point to gather together. Fellowship with my many cousins was a blessing and created memories I will never forget. How I wis...
This week marks the 150th anniversary of a famous hunting trip that may have helped draw attention to a painting thought to have been inspired by an earlier buffalo hunting trip that happened in Nuckolls County. But like many of the Old West stories, not everyone agrees about where it happened or even when. For example Robert Landon, a man personally known by people I have known, said he raised Calamity Jane in a abin along the Little Blue River northwest of Oak. Some historians claim Calamity Jane was raised in Missouri. Landon contended he...
Presenting Biblical answers to tough questions Q: I recently lost someone close to me. Where can I find words of comfort in the Bible? A: It may not be easy for me to offer a satisfying answer to this question since grief can affect all of us in different ways. The best I can do is offer general guidelines and resources for grief, then list specific passages for various situations. I hope it helps. One very beneficial source of comfort to us in times of grief is our relationships with others. Friends, family, a pastor, or a wise fellow...
The Human race is really an amazing thing. Even though it was chosen by God to be the dominate species of life here on earth, it sure does a lot of stupid things. History is dominated with our efforts to kill each other off . . . for all sorts of reasons. We also have the common sense to correct many of our mistakes, therefore looking good in historical terms. (I do mean amazing.) Here in the U. S. of America I contend there have been three or four major instances in which people have died in massive number for no good reasons. First off, the c...
I don’t know where to start. It’s been a tough week. Two of my friends are sick and were hospitalized, the pick-up broke down, and I hit a deer. On top of all that, I haven’t been feeling tippy-top. No worries, I’m not contagious or anything, just my usual health issues. I’ll be back to my good ol’ snarky, sarcastic self in a day or two. My mom had surgery on Friday to remove the plate from her knee. About five years ago, she fell and broke her knee. The added hardware was causing discomfort and keeping her from using the leg normally. T...
The countryside is in winter resting mode. The tree branches are bare allowing views over the creek bank into the neighboring field. The grasslands have turned from a rich green to a dry brown and tan. The only green that can be noted are the cold green early blades of the planted wheat in the fields. Cattle are being moved to the home lots to winter or taken to pasture in brown, harvested corn and milo fields. The only survival plants in some of the no-till fields are cover crops that were planted to help save soil moisture. The wild flowers...
With the weekend’s winter weather, this writer stayed home. I went straight home after work on Friday and didn’t leave the house until I walked to the office on Sunday afternoon. Throughout the pandemic I’ve been keeping pretty much to myself and trying to avoid coming in contact with the virus. If our newspapers are to maintain legal status, we must print an issue every week. And for the last 19 years I have been the press operator. I must not miss a press day. Without lots of social contact, I spend more time thinking about past events than...
Presenting Biblical answers to tough questions Q: Knowing my days are numbered, where in the Bible can I find comfort and the courage to accept my death? A: Probably one of the best passages for overcoming the fear of death is 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 (especially vv. 50-58), which describes Christ’s victory over death and the grave on behalf of those who believe. I especially like verses 54-57 that describe death as a defeated enemy and a conquered foe. Death is rightly terrifying for many (Luke 16:19-31), but believers in Christ can rest in t...
Happy New Year, folks. I hope everyone survived both the New Year starting and the snow storm that never quite got going in spite of a week’s worth of warnings. The cold and wind came, but not as much snow as predicted. We at the Ostdiek household had a great time as we combined Christmas with Nancy’s birthday. I went outside only twice over the weekend: to attend Mass and to grill steaks for the Holiday meal. Both events were ‘filling’ in their own way. A O While reading, whatever you read, do you sometimes come across words put togethe...
Wow, 2022, that’s going take a minute to get used to, I’ll be writing 2021 on everything until at least March. George installed the washer and dryer on Friday, and I’ve been doing laundry ever since. I am slowly but surely getting things unpacked and finding new homes for all our belongings, and we still can’t find anything. At least this week, I found the charger for my laptop computer! Last week, I was on a wild goose chase for about an hour trying to find it. I had given up and was headed to Superior in hopes The Express would have a spare w...
Last week’s issue of this newspaper had so many Letters to Santa Claus that we had to save some for this week, Those letters contained requests for a number of toys I had never heard of but I don’t remember anyone asking for a new mobility aid I learned about by reading the December issue of the Superior High School newspaper. If I could roll a few decades off the calendar, I would like to have a pair of Heelys. I recall watching Megan Genung effortlessly roller blading down main street as part of a Lady Vestey Festival Parade. I’d like to be...
Growing up and living on a farm for most of my life, I’ve learned to have hope. I was raised with hope. A farmer and his wife are the eternal optimists most of the time. They work and prepare the farmland, plant the seed, and trust and have hope rains will come. They hope a damaging storm won’t come along and destroy all they worked hard for. When there is a drought during the hot summer months and the pasture grasses are about used up, and the ponds are drying up, hope still remains that soon the rains will arrive. I know that sometimes farmer...
My parents always spent New Year’s Eve with the couple’s club that got together to play bridge once a month. They scheduled the January session for New Year’s Eve. This left me home by myself, although when I was younger Aunt Lena came to stay with me during the evening. We would listen to the radio. At midnight, Guy Lombardo and his orchestra in New York City would play “Auld Lang Sine” and a radio reporter would describe the lowering of the ball at Times Square. Back then there were no fireworks set off as I recall, but some left over from...
Presenting biblical answers to tough questions Q: I don’t hear much about Jesus’ siblings, did they grow up together? How did they feel about Jesus? A: It’s true that Jesus’ siblings are somewhat difficult to spot in Scripture (see Matthew 13:55 for a list of their names). This is because the gospel accounts are not biographies in the modern sense but witness statements of the miracles and message of the Messiah. As such they focus on Jesus’ ministry and not as much upon his family or upbringing. However, we can use what we are given to piece t...
The following was written by an author unknown to me. I pass it along at the end of the year, just for something to think about. “Men, like nations, think they’re eternal. What man in his 20s or 30s doesn’t believe, at least subconsciously, that he’ll live forever? In the springtime of youth, an endless summer beckons. As you pass 70, it’s harder to hide from reality. Nations also have seasons: Imagine a Roman of the 2nd century contemplating an empire Near East, thinking forever.... Forever was about 500 years, give or take. France was pivot...
First off, I need to apologize. A couple of weeks ago, my column was a repeat of the week before, which caused some disappointment for those of you who read it. Last week it was overlooked, or there simply wasn’t room in the paper for it, so it did not run. I’m sorry. I looked over and over that paper from a few weeks ago and could have sworn it wasn’t there, so I told them to run it. Cheryl was right. I do need a break! Every week things seem to get crazier and crazier. Most of the time, I’m questioning whether or not I did the “this o...
Ever made a New Year’s Resolution? Ever kept one past January 31? If you have, celebrate! Many resolutions don’t make it that long and many more aren’t the permanent change the resolvers sought. How can we make a resolution and keep it? One way is to make a SMART resolution. SMART goals, objectives, plans or resolutions have been around since the acronym originated in a 1981 Management Review publication. In the acronym SMART, the S stands for Specific. A resolution needs to be specific not vague. “Lose weight” is not specific but “I will l...
While helping to organize the youngsters’ letters included in this week’s newspaper, I observed the names of the toys youngsters of 2021 are hoping to receive. Made me thankful to not have youngsters on my Christmas gift list for I didn’t recognize the names of the popular toys. The exercise took me back to my childhood when I learned about the new toys by visiting stores’ toy departments and seeing what my friends were playing with. When given an opportunity, to go where I wanted in downtown Superior, I visited the toy departments and dreamed...
The Christmas Spirit continued as Sunday found a friend and myself were seated in the balcony of a beautifully restored theater building preparing to complete another of my “bucket list” selections. I was prepared to witness a live production of The Nutcracker Ballet. From my childhood days in Stockton, Kan., my mother seemed to want me to experience all musical interests, to see what could become a good fit. My parents started me taking piano lessons at age 5 with Mrs. Pauley as my first piano teacher. At age 6, I was enrolled in a dance cla...
