Say What?

Tammy had surgery on her foot last week to remove bone spurs and bone chips. Her doctor said it was a much-needed surgery for her. Over the past two years, especially, she hasn't been able to work out or walk very far the way she used to (because of pain), so we're hopeful this will give her that ability again. She was supposed to have the surgery last fall, but had to put it off for six months after her cardiac arrest experience last August. She's wearing a protective boot on her surgical foot and must avoid putting weight on it for 6 to 8 weeks. Our goal is to get her fit for a full day at the state fair in August! We're in the waning weeks of another relatively easy winter. Nearly all of our snowfall is gone, and the long-range forecast has us well above freezing. Our last three winters have been nearly identical in terms of snowfall, with each recording less than half our usual amount (between 51 and 54 inches / 130 and 137 cm). There's still a chance that we c...

I've watched my share of Olympic coverage from Milano Cortina, Italy, over the last two-plus weeks. I mostly enjoy watching curling, but also figure skating, snowboarding, and ski jumping. I love the winter Olympics. It's been a nice distraction from our dysfunctional country. I was in a curling league two years ago and became fascinated by the sport. There is so much strategy involved. I still have much to learn about it. I've been going to the gym (Planet Fitness) 4 to 6 days a week. It's nice that it's less than a ten-minute drive from home. I've been working on strengthening my quadriceps muscles in my surgically repaired knee, but I'm also focusing on my core—something I've neglected my entire adult life. I'm pleased with the progress I've made. I see the gym as a regular part of my workout routine for years to come. It's such a good value, too, at only $10 per month. I wish I had begun years ago, but better late than never.  I was putti...

I've had enough. Like many people, I've toyed with the thought of deleting my Facebook account. Earlier this week, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, I decided to toy no more and did it. More accurately, I stopped short of deleting it and deactivated it instead. Not deleting it gives me continued access to Messenger, where I can still connect with friends. Perhaps it was the algorithm I had cultivated, but maybe not. I used to manage a Facebook page that I started a while back as a tribute to a lighted oak tree in Bloomington. I let the page go dormant for years and was shocked when I looked at it a few months ago and found that it had been overrun with hard-right propaganda accounts. I've heard of this happening before. A quick search shows it's not uncommon  for that to happen.  My experience of late on the platform shows a trend toward more racist and hateful comments, especially on pages for local TV stations, where the comments are primarily from residents of the me...

This is a continuation of a blog post I wrote today. You can find it here . I began using a more critical eye in my future devotions, and soon found myself doubting the validity of some of what I was reading. Was this really from God, or was this actually Moses editorializing with the writing of God's laws? I thought, wow, Moses can pretty much tell his people anything he wants—that it's direct from God to him—and they don't question it.  I was well on my way to leaving the faith during Trump's first term. I had been jumping out and jumping in over the span of a few years. But when I saw the way Trump's supporters believed every one of his huge and ridiculous lies, I thought about the origins of my faith. I wondered, what if Moses were a Trump-like figure who would tell his people grandiose stories, and they would believe him? Could this religion of mine be built on something like that?  I thought about how a man could easily assemble the basic structure of a belief...

Like many people living in the Midwest, Christianity is in my DNA, or was. It was part of my core. I was raised in a Lutheran household, where we regularly attended church and Sunday school and, when I was old enough, weekly confirmation classes. There was never any talk among our family of questioning our faith, nor did we discuss religion that I can recall. What was there to discuss? If it was good enough for my parents, it was good enough for me, or something like that.  I've come to see my faith life as a winding journey. For most of my life, I was strong in my Christian faith, but then I began questioning the entire church apparatus that I'd been indoctrinated into, because there's a part of me that isn't content to embrace something I'm struggling to understand. This was maybe fifteen years ago. I still felt committed to the faith, but I recall some doubts creeping in—and I found myself open to new ideas.  My core belief centered around Jesus and the understan...

As much as I can, I avoid using my blog to recount the endless provocations and destructive actions Trump and his administration are taking. I would rather spend my time writing about what these offenses mean to me and holding up a mirror to those who support this madness, hoping to appeal to their better angels. If there is a goal with a post like this, it's to help people see another perspective and, hopefully, to cause them to think outside the lines conservative media and conservative politicians would like them to remain in, in steadfast loyalty to them and their narrative. I recall learning about propaganda in middle school. I was fascinated by the thought of so many people being lied to and not realizing it. I never imagined it could take root here in the United States. We're too smart for that, or so I thought. But I lacked imagination. I lacked the understanding of what billions of dollars fed into a media conglomerate could do as they invited people to come for the he...