This week my great aunt stopped by for a visit as she does, and of course, had to share some of her wisdom. She did scold me gently for not yet having a passport with my eldest child nearing departure for a new duty station in Germany, but also because she just couldn’t wrap her head around that I didn’t just already have one. The other bit of wisdom was a new saying that she offered that is maybe both a little comical and a little depressing.
For the first time in living memory, I was the only passenger in a TSA security line at a major airport — Tucson, noon on a Friday, a time you’d expect Arizonans to be heading for Nome or Juneau for a weekend of darkness, but no. I wended back and forth in the maze of barriers and the guy at the conveyor seemed happy to see me. I zipped on through and counted 15 uniformed men and women defending the country against one octogenarian liberal who’s never owned a gun, hasn’t fired an explosive in fifty years and then only a few bottle rockets, and arrived at my gate two hours early, and celebrated by buying a latte at a coffee stand that offers tables and chairs.
For three years running, Beyond Reason has considered the new year’s resolution. A new year’s resolution is just a goal, a commitment, ranging from the very specific (lose ten pounds/only eat a whole food plant-based diet/save $5000) to the very abstract (workout more/eat better/save something). In a vacuum, a new year’s resolution isn’t funny. Luckily, a new year’s resolution, however specific or abstract, involves a human. A human is funny. A human with goals is the gift that keeps on giving.
As the time draws near the end for my eldest childâs deployment with the Army to the Middle East, we now look forward to a new adventure as he plans for his next move to a new duty station.
When Chip Carter spoke about his father, Jimmy, at a memorial service in Atlanta and told how, when his dad noticed the boy got a poor mark in Latin, Jimmy studied Latin so that he could teach his son, I recognized a standard of fatherhood a good deal higher than my own and I felt bad for a moment until I recalled that it wasn’t my father’s level of fatherhood either. He was a father of six kids and I recall that when I got a C in math, it was my problem and he didn’t get involved.
Rob Perez This time of year, every trip to the mailbox results in a handful of holiday cards. I mostly like holiday cards. Like a… Login to continue reading Login…
Rob Perez Most of the year, Beyond Reason steadies its gaze on the present. The here, the now, the au courant. We do this because… Login to continue reading Login…
Jessica StölenEditorjstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com Every so often, I like to scour other newspapers from around the country in rural areas to see what kinds of creativity they… Login to continue reading Login…
Garrison KeillorAuthor & Humorist I know something about elitism, having grown up in the exclusive Sanctified Brethren — we refused to commune with 99.85% of… Login to continue reading Login…
Jessica StölenEditorjstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com The frantic pace of the holiday season is nearly past us. I say nearly past us although most of you reading this will… Login to continue reading Login…