In Indiana, once the state basketball tournament is over, there’s a point where folks realize that Spring is on the way. Farmers start plowing their fields, flowers start to poke their head above ground, and Little League baseball tryouts get under way. In the Midwest, baseball is a big deal for a lot of people,…
I’ve never been the neatest person, but I don’t mind cleaning. It’s nice to see a space improve as you get rid of clutter and wipe down counters. When you get done, the end result always gives a sense of satisfaction and pride. When I was a kid, though, ‘cleaning house’ took on a whole…
Growing up, we didn’t go on a lot of family vacations. Sure, we did the occasional day trip to a museum, amusement park, or baseball game, but other than a week spent down at ‘church camp, our summers tended to consist of riding bikes to the park, going to my brother’s baseball games, or weekend…
Unlike a lot of kids, I loved school. I liked getting on the bus, listening to the music on the bus driver’s AM radio, getting to school and running to class. I liked the hot lunches they’d wheel to our classrooms on carts, and always looked forward to recess…as well as coming back from recess.…
Cindy was a beagle. Well, mostly beagle and a little bit of terrier mixed in. She was a great dog for a couple of teenage boys and followed Jim and me everywhere. She would perk up every time we’d mention the word “rabbits”, especially if we said it as we headed toward the door. Going…
If you’ve ever been the younger sibling to an older brother, you’ve likely had some good memories, as well as others you’d rather not remember. In some cases, there are memories that are impossible to forget. My brother Jim was nothing if not memorable. He was good looking, athletic, and charming to a fault. He…
A key part of growing up in Indiana is a love for all things basketball. If you’ve seen the movie “Hoosiers”, it’s hard not to root for the underdog team from Hickory High, but the thing is, it’s loosely based on a true story, where the Milan Indians (a school of under 200) outlasted over…
When I was in high school, I really wanted to be in radio. I listened to the DJs on WLS in Chicago, the local personalities on WIOU AM and WWKI FM in Kokomo, and the ‘big city’ DJs on-air for WNAP FM and WIBC AM in Indianapolis. I even waited for the daily spots from…
My late January birthday always seemed to carry with it a blast of winter weather. Even if the winter had been mild up to that point, January 27th brought snow, sleet, ice and frequently Arctic weather and sub-zero wind-chill temperatures. The previous week seemed mild enough. We had snow on the ground, but temperatures hung…
Winters in North-Central Indiana were rarely mild. Every year, we’d have snow as early as Halloween, and as late as April Fool’s Day. In between, we’d get regular snow fall, with the occasional lake-effect snowstorm blowing in off of Lake Michigan, which would bring a wave of blocked roads, sliding cars….and school cancellations. Whenever snow…