What I am thankful for

This is the time of year when families gather and give thanks for the blessings in their life.

Paid family leave offers many benefits to society

For parents in the workforce who do not receive paid family leave, the important first months with baby can be cut short due to financial hardship.

The road to poverty is paved with good intentions

As a proposed increase to the minimum wage became part of the COVID Relief bill, then later scrapped, my subconscious pointed out a flaw in my thinking. I had a vivid dream where I was talking to numerous business owners who are a part of our vibrant local food scene. Many of these restaurateurs, farmers, and value-added food producers make $50,000 per year or less while paying the current minimum wage, or slightly more. Paying workers based on a wage ratio limit would not necessarily guarantee a living wage, so in the dream they were asking me what they should pay. What would be a competitive pay rate?

Grief, worry, hope, and kindness

At the end of January, Will and I suffered the loss of a beloved pet. After talking with friends, we found out that three of them also recently had pets reach the end of their lives. Some lost people in their family as well. Some, like me, are worried about family who are sick.

How we grieve is who we are

Growing up in this environment made me better able to deal with grief. Some would say that I still am too stoic, I appear to uncaring. I am not, however I do grieve, and even cry. Just how I was raised was that we get the important things done first, then we deal with grief later.

The common foe; the common solution

We are done being divided by the elites. We are done being distracted into hating one another. This is both a challenge and a hope. My family, my wife and I, our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren over the age of 18, probably canceled one another’s presidential votes this past election. Some voted for Biden, some for Trump. These are all intelligent people, they all have formal education beyond high school, and they all have the same concerns. They want a better life and a brighter future for themselves and their families. When Bernie Sanders, who to my knowledge most of my family supported, lost in the primaries, the presidential ...