Viewpoints

Wed
19
Apr

Word for Word 4/19/17

As a Lenten practice I’ve been trying to read poetry for my morning meditation and was recently moved by “Blessing for a Broken Vessel” by Jan Richardson. It reads: Do not despair. You hold the memory of what it was to be whole.

It lives deep in your bones. It abides in your heart that has been torn and mended a hundred times. It persists in your lungs that know the mystery of what it means to be full, to be empty, to be full again.

I am not asking you to give up your grip on the shards your clasp so close to you,

But to wonder what it would be like for those jagged edges to meet each other in some new pattern that you have never imagined, that you have never dared to dream.

Wed
19
Apr

Letter to the Editor: More to consider with proposed abortion ban

To the Editor:

My name is Emily Garrett. I was born and raised in Waukon. I count myself blessed to have been raised in such a warm Iowa community.

I have since moved away to pursue a medical degree and to train as an obstetrician and gynecologist. I have delivered babies to happy couples, troubled teenagers, sexual assault victims and even grieving mothers after the intrauterine death of their child. In fact, as I type this I am working 80 hours per week at night, while eight months pregnant with my first child, delivering babies and helping mothers have safe pregnancies and healthy newborns.

This is not meant as a complaint, but rather an illustration of the time and emotional and physical energy I’ve invested in caring for women. I hope someday to return to my home state to take care of Iowa women during and outside of their pregnancies.

Wed
19
Apr

Letter to the Editor: Has Big Foot ever been found?

To the Editor:

The April 5, 2017 issue of The Standard featured an article about the search for “Big Foot” in the Yellow River State Forest area. My interest perked when I got to the “Local Insight” section of the article and read the question about the area in Allamakee County which is called “Big Foot” and is located in the county’s Paint Creek and Linton Townships.

I grew up on a farm a half mile east of Rossville on Highway 13 (now Highway 76) and just “up the road” was the Crossroads. Turn north and the road goes to Waterville and turn south the Big Foot Road leads to Volney. I  was very disappointed that no one thought to ask some of the local historians about the origins of how Big Foot got its name.

Wed
19
Apr

Letter to the Editor: Privileged to experience the Honor Flight

To the Editor:

As I write this letter to the editor I ponder if I should because I don’t know if I can properly express my feelings. I had the privilege of going on the Honor Flight April 8.

It was so great, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. The treatment was so nice, so well organized and all done by volunteers, such wonderful angels.

We were supposed to be at the Milwaukee Airport by 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Julie and I left home at 11 p.m. Friday. The wonderful jet plane (Airbus) took off at 7 a.m. and one and a half hours later landed in Washington, D.C. Take-off and landing speed 152 miles per hour. I was very impressed by the very nice airports.

Jeana Steffens, our granddaughter, was like an angel to me. She pushed me for miles looking at all the memorials and monuments in D.C. Changing of the guard was great. Before we took off from Milwaukee, we had a minister say a very nice special prayer for us.

Wed
19
Apr

Letter to the Editor: Karst terrain leads to legitimate concerns regarding proposed hog confinements

To the Editor:

As of a few weeks ago, karst was not a term I was all that familiar with, but after learning that two separate 2,499 head hog confinements were going to be built neighboring my family’s farm in Howard County, I learned that karst topography is causing quite a concern.

Northeast Iowa is known for its karst terrain which is made up of rocks like limestone and dolomite. Features found within karst regions include caves, springs and sinkholes. Northeastern Iowa is known to have quality groundwater that travels through natural aquifers formed as a part of this terrain.

Wed
12
Apr

And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I noticed that in the news this Monday morning of the week of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta, GA, there were severe weather warnings for that area.

That’s always an event held in beautiful surroundings, if not always beautiful weather.

Yesterday, one of the dailies did a story about Iowan Zach Johnson, who won that event ten years ago. The story noted that he has won 11 other tournaments, including the British Open in 2015. Last year seemed to be not a very good year for Zach, but the story says he won over $1.7 million in 2016, which would be a pretty good year for any businessman. His lifetime earnings in prize money top $40.8 million, at age 41.

Key words in that final sentence are prize money.

Wed
12
Apr

Word for Word 4/12/17

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ, it is April and we are beginning to see the spring weather. As I am writing this, I recall that just a couple of weeks ago we had rain, lightning and thunder. The beautiful weather we are receiving comes with a price and that is the severe weather that can come seemingly from out of the blue.

The other day I saw a robin, and I have noticed some of the flowers in the beds around the parsonage growing with the promise of blooming soon. Spring planting season is nearly upon us and flowers are getting ready for the day when they will bloom in glorious color. This reminds me of what it is like to be a Christian.

We go through a time in our lives when all is cold, dark and gloomy and then as we learn of Christ we come to the time of a new life. This new life is not without its own storms but through those storms we receive the precious rain that waters our faith so that we may grow as Christians.

Wed
12
Apr

Letter to the Editor: Reality 101 is terrific

To the Editor:

The “Reality 101” events are terrific learning experiences, but shouldn’t the topics included be part of every school’s regular curriculum?

David Anderson
Waukon

 

Wed
12
Apr

Letter to the Editor: Sin or crime?

To the Editor:

Between birth and death, we are criminals, living in a prison that we cannot escape from. We have been imprisoned since the day we were born, living among a bunch of criminals, all of us committing crime after crime against our creator. We are on death row as punishment for living a life of crime. There is only one door which after having served time in this prison that will open for each one of us. That door is death.

Each of us have a soul that is at death separated from our bodies and goes to one of two places. The choice is ours while we serve our sentence here alive on earth. There is no other choice. Originally man was placed on this earth to worship and serve our creator. A couple of our ancestors decided to follow Satan. That criminal act is still following us. The Bible calls it sin. Sin is doing something that is against the laws of our God and creator. Such as changing His laws, eliminating some of them or disobeying them.

Wed
05
Apr

And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that this column is going to test my typing ability, which is already suspect. I think I was the only one in my high school typing class not to earn the 40 wpm pin. And in my long career at the newspaper, several of the young women with whom I worked found occasion to giggle or snicker at my “hunt and peck” approach.

It is sort of the same reason why I could never master the guitar. My fingers do not obey my mind quickly enough. That is also why I depend on a mouse and can’t use the touchpad on the computer.

The problem?

The Iowa women lost their NIT basketball game to Washington State over the weekend. Washington State is the name of the school, but the team roster read more like a United Nations all-star lineup.

This is not sour grapes. They played better than Iowa did that day, and deserved the win.

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