You can’t be a writer without readers. You also can’t be a writer without being a reader. I was fortunate to have a family that put a lot of stock into reading, showing it’s an important way to learn and a vital method for expanding your imagination. You could say that reading is its own…
Birthdays serve as reminders we’re still alive
This week, the family celebrated a milestone. My mother turned 70 a few days ago, celebrating with burgers involving the whole family. When it comes to milestone birthdays, a lot of families rent out venues or go out to fancy restaurants. That’s just not our style, though. It might have something to do with dealing…
Mission BBQ mixes good deeds with great food
If you look around your community, there are plenty of places where you can stop to get a bite to eat. Whether it’s a romantic night out with your significant other, a place where you can host business clients or even spend some time alone for a meal, everybody has their favorites. Todd and I…
Full range of emotions felt with Mother Nature’s weather wackiness
I grew up in Arizona, where the weather was constant sunshine for around 300 days out of the year. You had rain and even snow—although no one I talk to believes that snow could fall in the desert. However, precipitation was more of an anomaly than a regular thing most times. I find myself thinking…
Libraries should make it easier to access knowledge, not harder
One of my mother’s favorite brags is that I learned how to read at the age of 3½. It is one of the things that she is most proud of. The key to getting a young boy like me into reading was exposing me to books. During those days, there were few bookstores, so much…
Wart! Latest Super Mario movie has added incentive
It takes a lot to convince me to go to a movie theater these days, mainly because a lot of films out there don’t have the grab factor to convince me to shell out $20 for tickets and snacks. However, it looks like 2026 could be a year when the movie industry actually entices me…
Preference for school structures up in the air
I recently got to thinking about how schools have changed. I wasn’t thinking about the curriculum or the technology that teachers and students use to teach and learn, respectively. My thoughts turned to accessing the school from the outside. Growing up in Arizona, my schools weren’t single buildings with multiple floors like you see in…
Tribal identity can’t be defined by blanket terms
There are about 600 different tribes in the United States, each with their own different culture, language and traditions. In Wisconsin, where I currently reside, there are 12 such tribes, and in Arizona, where I grew up, there are 23. In my lifetime, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some different tribal members in both…
Ejection from bar result of pride in family history
I will not relent when it comes to my family history. I made that clear in my last post when a public figure pronounced the first name of Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski as “Cashmere.” I wasn’t the only one who was honked off about it. My sweetheart, Todd, who has some Polish blood in…
What’s in a name? In this case, it’s not a sweater
We should honor our heroes. I was taught that from a very young age. We should especially honor our heroes in the military, especially those fight in wars for our freedom. In my family, we have an ancestor that I have always been proud of—Casimir Pulaski. For those who are not aware of him because…
Thomas Sanders shows lighter side of multiple personalities
The ever-expanding internet has created an infinite number of online influencers vying for our attention, wooing us with fitness tips, farm life, food recommendations, comedic shtick and much, much more. It’s likely this is the reason most of us spend so much time glued to our screens seeking to be entertained. Most of the influencers…
Abandon ship! Thoughts about boarding a cruise
I was scrolling through Facebook one morning when I came across a post from an entertainer I follow performing on an ocean cruise. Shortly after, I saw another post where a Facebook friend was planning on taking a cruise. Many folks seem eager to hop on a ship and take to the high seas for…
Rural Roots and American Rainbows 