A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were invited to the house of some of our friends for dinner. Also in attendance at the dinner were the parents of the wife of our friends. As we were sitting outside enjoying the weather and catching up, we started discussing the...
We experienced our first quarantine at our house as Shaila tested positive for COVID. We were fortunate to know where she contacted it from and she is old enough that self-isolating was a little easier to accomplish. However, we did embrace masks in our household and if she came out...
My pastor scolded me about 15 years ago for not wearing a bike helmet as I was riding my bike around Clarion. “Steve”, said Pastor Chuck, “you are a leader and therefore an example in Clarion for good behavior and you should be wearing a helmet. You are not sending...
Summer has arrived in Iowa and Mother Nature is making sure we know it is here with the heat and humidity. Another sign of summer and one of my favorites is the first ears of Iowa grown sweetcorn. The other day I traveled to Des Moines and on a street...
I made bacon on Sunday morning. My bacon making includes making a mess. I’m not sure how you don’t make a mess making bacon - I’ll either set off the fire alarm or splatter grease all over. I’ve tried it in the oven and that creates a special mess of...
As I write this article we have successfully completed another fiscal year. As we look towards completing our self-evaluations and prepare ourselves for our evaluations it is a great time to reflect on this past year and the impact we made. I know that none of you like completing your...
In late November or early December, I typically have my annual winter cough and I think it should last the requisite 10 days … but no, sometimes it gets worse after the ten days. I think - “this is not fair, it’s supposed to go away after a week to...
As, the newest senior leader I first want to thank you all for your dedication and amazing hard work each one of you have put in the past few months. It truly has been remarkable and made me very proud as I have transitioned to working with you all in...
2020 bites - we can all agree with this. For me, it’s the fact that all my rides have canceled and being a card carrying hypochondriac, every time I cough I start planning for the worst case scenario but beyond that … I don’t know. You all know that I’m...
I have tried to instill in my children that they are a product of the choices they make. Each decision has a consequence and some will lead you closer to your goals and some will lead you off the path. For most of us the road we are traveling is...
