Mt. Pleasant News

Here are two books, both by female authors, and both, I?ll tell you beforehand, I?m awarding the coveted Empty Nest 10.By and large, I find female authors more sensitive, better writers, and better story tellers than men?not always, but generally; also more descriptive with their prose, better at creating images, and more able to draw the reader into a story, often with the first sentence, like bees to a ...

As a teenager, my Saturday nights were spent with turf under my feet and bright lights shining overhead. Usually there was also an abundance of spit running down my chin ? that?s the hazard of playing a brass instrument. Yes, I was a band nerd and covering last week?s band invitational was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Because as Mt. Pleasant High School freshman Charles Bryant put it, ?band invitationals ...

For as long as I can remember, I have been a dog fan of epic proportions. My family has always had dogs (big dogs mind you). Even most of my extended family are dog people. To solidify my passion for dogs, I can honestly say I asked for an encyclopedia of dog breeds when I was in elementary school?yes folks I know, nerd alert!Between working full-time and living in town now, it isn?t wise for me to have a dog of ...

To the editor:In reference to the article in the ?Mt. Pleasant News? regarding church attendance dropping, it should be read and re-read across the U.S.A. The loss of Christianity in any nation has meant a total change in the freedom of that nation?s population. A little over 100 years ago, Russia had a very high Christian population, now it is a tiny percentage and in hiding. The Pew Research Center shows Henry ...

DEAR ABBY: Clearly, America is in a state of turmoil. I am horrified and ashamed of the senseless death occurring daily.I deal with anxiety, particularly regarding fear of death. As a result, the only thing I've found that I can do to cope with current events is to scan headlines, and ask my understanding husband for a synopsis of events that doesn't include major triggers.However, I feel serious guilt that I ...

Herky the Hawkeye just doesn?t smile enough.That?s why a University of Iowa professor is asking the Department of Athletics to let the Iowa mascot display other emotions in university fliers, athletic posters and other university publications (according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen).The professor argues that students should be met with ?welcoming, nurturing, calm, accepting and happy messages? instead of the ...

DEAR ABBY: I recently retired after 26 years of working with a professional partner of the opposite sex. Now my wife expects me to cut off all communication with her. There was never any intimacy or sexual attraction at all, just a friendship established over many years. I have explained this to my wife many times, but she refuses to believe me and wants this person out of my life for good. How can I explain this ...

Fame is fleeting, it is said.Look no further than the recently completed Olympic Games for evidence that the time in the limelight can be minuscule, so it is wise to make the most of it while you have it.In 2012, Missy Franklin was one of the swimming stars for the United States. Four years later and a year after turning professional, she qualified for one Olympic event, finishing 13th in that event.Gabby ...

Baton Rouge, Ferguson, Baltimore, Dallas and now Milwaukee. Violence, blatant racism and destruction has swept the country in the last two years at alarming rates, and has left many asking, ?When does it end?? I have been asking myself the same question for a long time.On Saturday, the violent riots erupted once again, this time in Milwaukee, Wisc., following the fatal police shooting of an armed 23-year-old ...

Fifty of anything is worthy of pause, celebration, and reminiscence. So it was with my fiftieth high school class reunion. We met, we talked, we ate, all of us looking so old, except for me, of course. We even got together for a float (hay rack) ride in Monroe?s Old Settlers Parade. Absent, of course, were the classmates who passed away. But their memory lives on.It?s hard to believe that it?s been fifty years ...

August 19: Harvest day on the Mark and Jane McConeghey farm outside of Monroe. The mechanical harvester moves through the lush, green aronia bushes selecting bunches of deep purple (black) fruit and depositing it in a tote-bin.Local kids, hired to pick the low-hanging fruit the harvester missed, are busy with purple hands and lips (from eating while they pick). The aronia fruit (a pome) looks like a tiny apple, ...

I just turned 68. And I must say, life is great! Ginnie and I are building a huge addition onto our house. It will give us three more garage spaces, to add to the single garage space we already have. Plus, there is a basement room below the garage so we will have a storm shelter, an exercise room on the ground level for the treadmill and elliptical machine, and attic storage above. Or, I should say, the contractor...