Play dangerously

Oct 30, 2024–Lick a Battery. That is the first of “Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do),” a book that our son gave us. His friend, author Gever Tulley’s simple premise is that we need to go back to letting kids play dangerously. Readers who grew up...

Unappreciated Innovation

Oct 23, 2024–If you share an idea with an old man and he is for it, do it. If he is against it, do it anyway. An old man told me that bit of advice. And it is good advice. Throughout history, you’ll find examples of men and women of all ages and stations in life who...

Opportunity Cost

Oct 2, 2024–Do you know anyone who shies away from going to parties and public events? Maybe you consider them to be aloof or distant. They seem not to be interested in spending time with anyone. They forsake parties, avoid luncheons, never go to movies or backyard...

Silly-Stitions

Sept 18, 2024–Don’t walk under a ladder. Don’t let a black cat cross your path. Knock on wood. Step on a crack; break your mother’s back. We’ve all heard these and other superstitions since we were in grade school. They sound childish and were the source of harmless...

Life Review

Sept 11, 2024–Have you written your obituary? Believe it or not, that was an assignment I gave to my 6th grade gifted students. The point was to nudge them to think about how they hoped to use the gifts they possessed over their lifetimes, to not take them for...

New Amish

Aug 28, 2024–Someone proposed we start a religious sect called the New Amish, emulating those sons of Menno whose followers in America effectively froze all progress at the random date of 1878. Why not do the same 100 years on? I grew up among Amish and Mennonite...