As the character, Barney Fife, Don Knotts once uttered some incredible wisdom.  When asked if he was afraid, he replied; “There’s nothin’ to fear but fear itself—and that’s what I got—fear itself!”  I’ve always thought that was a statement of profound wisdom.  Incredibly simple, incredibly true most of time.  […]

I drive down country roads, far from scheduled time and harried people.  The road, bordered by 3-strand barbed wire fence that defines pasture and contains the placid cattle that walk the same cow path that their predecessors walked, barn to pasture, pasture to barn.  These trails, so worn that they […]

 In our town, Christmas in particular sparked an informal and good-natured competition for best window decoration and none were rarely better than the effort put forth by our local hardware store and Charlie Fedderson.  Charlie ruled the hardware store like a benevolent wizard.  He was capable of simple magic and […]