Feature Columnists

Have you ever felt a yearning, a feeling you couldn't quite identify? You have done what you thought you wanted to do in life. You have followed what you thought was your dream, and you are still following the route you think will make you happy. So, what is wrong? What is causing that forlorn...

This column is dedicated to those who have lost loved ones or friends to disease and other maladies. A 1995 dramatic film starring Andy Garcia -- "Things to do in Denver When You're Dead" -- featured a video business called Afterlife Advice. Terminally ill folks pay a service, run by Garcia, to...

I have been the officiating pastor for 12 funerals in the past three months. Nearly one a week. From the young life cut short by an overdose to the older woman who radiated joy, all have shared a common theme. Life, whether nine minutes or 99 years, is too short. I pen these words with a dual...

A honeybee collects pollen from a pink flower the morning of Sunday, March 5. When springtime temperatures continue to reach 55 to 60 degrees (and above) for several days in a row, it triggers spring flowers to bloom. It was a chilly morning and the flowers on this Japanese quince bush were not...

My wife and I are getting ready for a long-deferred bathroom remodel. We've rented a dumpster preparing for the detritus of construction. While we've got the big green monstrosity in the driveway, we're using the occasion to throw stuff out. Something fortunately saved from the landfill is a book...

You just never know what (or who) you might find on a walk in the woods. This time it was a small cut-off pine tree that seemed to be impersonating Herman Munster. I like moments like this. Something that most hikers would pass by without notice, I spotted. You can find interesting human-like faces...

Have you ever thought of life as a puzzle, and you are the one that has to find your place among the pieces? The pieces fit only where they should. We search and search trying to find the exact place where each outlined piece joins the others and we must find where each fits. ...

There are some lies and some truths we believe about God. Often, the truth and lie become so intertwined that it is hard to distinguish between them. Statements such as "the apple of your eye", "God helps those who help themselves" or "He will never give you more than you can handle." Yet when the...

Every year about the middle of February, a small native tree called the American hazelnut tree takes it upon itself to ride like Paul Revere announcing quietly, "Spring is coming! Spring is coming!" The American hazelnut tree is one of the first plants in Southeast Missouri to flower each year....

The Christian season of Lent starts Wednesday, Feb. 22, ushering in a multi-week period of contemplation heading up to Resurrection Sunday, April 9, otherwise known as Easter. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a former Super Bowl champion and four-time National Football League MVP, has...

Have you ever had someone say to you, "Leave it alone, it's not your problem"? Almost all of us have heard that bit of advice at one time or another. Often that point of view is helpful to hear, but at other times, it's a frustrating statement. While at lunch, recently, a friend and I were...

You are looking at the stump cut of a Southeast Missouri tree called the tulip tree. Tulip trees are one of Missouri's fastest-growing timber trees. When tulip trees are left to stand and grow for several decades, they can grow into very large, valuable trees...

Love is unnecessary. We live in a world in which human connection is becoming a relic. A memory. A matter in which a crotchety character from another holiday would say, "Good riddance." Why entangle the necessities of living -- food, housing, entertainment -- with the complications of romance and...

I do not often come upon a briar patch like the vines I am showing you here, but when I do I always avoid them. There are at least five kinds of greenbriers native to Southeast Missouri. This one is called bristly greenbrier. The bristly greenbrier is relatively common but not often encountered. ...

Are you a quitter, or someone that keeps on going regardless of the outcome? Perhaps you think that it's easier to drop everything and give up, and it often is. Sometimes what we're striving for has run its course, and it's time to let go, but we must first take the time to discern if it's...

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Many years ago, while both of my in-laws were still alive, this writer was present for a Sunday school class in which Mom...

These buds and leaves were sticking out of a snow-covered bush the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 25. Heavy, wet snowfall during the night broke down some trees and tree limbs in the Southeast Missouri area. Thousands of people were left to deal with a few days of no electric power...

I have often been told that it is important to learn something new every day. Learning something new every day seems a bit exhausting and daunting, however, continuing to learn has been shown to benefit your health, increase your confidence, and keeps you engaged. ...

Late winter coincides with the time of year when songbird numbers are at their lowest. Let's think about why that would be. We are a long way from last spring, when nests were being built and babies were being raised. The many months between that time and now always sees songbird numbers drop and...

Life takes many different turns. It's like the winding road that lazily winds up and around a mountain. You hit a smooth stretch for a distance, and then before you know it, you're going in circles trying to stay on the road. Whether it's a turn we choose, or one that suddenly appears in front of...

Like many other people in the 45 U.S. states in which the game is played, this writer bought Mega Millions tickets earlier this month, hoping to win $1.35 billion. I bought a grand total of two tickets, telling the cashier at my local Jackson supermarket yours truly had no expectation of winning...

It isn't unusual to find a few mushrooms during winter in Missouri. Some kinds of mushrooms will begin to grow when a week or so of days get to around 55 degrees or higher, with nighttime temperatures not dropping below about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. I accidentally happened upon this small mushroom...

When you are 2 years old, there are lots of interesting things in the world. In this case it's as simple as a drop of water. My inquisitive granddaughter joined me on a cool rainy afternoon recently. She was fascinated by tiny drops of water the rain had deposited on horizontal limbs close to the...

We are almost halfway there. When this column prints, we will be almost halfway through January 2023. The next few days may be the make-or-break week for your new year's resolutions. A poll of 2,000 Americans reveals that, on average, most resolutions are discarded within 32 days of making them....

The outpouring of support across the world for Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin following a catastrophic health event suffered during a Jan. 2 football game in Cincinnati has been nothing short of impressive, perhaps even miraculous. The response is, for persons of faith, perhaps a concrete...

So, a new year has, again, entered into our midst. What do we plan to do with this new beginning? Will we constantly reminisce about what happened last year? Perhaps we will expect good things to land on our doorsteps. Will good fortune visit us without any effort on our part, or is it often...

The work of a woodpecker or two sends a message from the trunk of an old dead snag. They had chipped away on the tree hoping to find woodworms, ants or beetles to eat and inadvertently created a face. More likely than not a pileated woodpecker knocked away bark and chipped out the hole that looks...

Southeast Missouri experienced what local meteorologists called a "flash freeze" Dec. 22, 2022. Normally, the term flash freeze is used in the food industry where foods are frozen solid in a very short time. A fast-moving cold front pushed its way through the area, delivering rain followed quickly...

One of the four traditional themes of the season of Advent, the time of waiting in the church for the coming of Christ, is hope. The others are joy, peace and love, but I'm focused on hope this Christmas. Watching Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, address the U.S. Congress this past...

This is a common Canada goose. I photographed it a few years ago while visiting Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Puxico, Missouri. The Canada goose is a native North American bird. It is considered to be a migratory bird, but some of these birds will take up year-round residence in places as far...

"I'll bake the cookies, this year." Janice heard from her daughter, Jane's, room. "I'll pick up a vegetable tray and a fruit tray," said her middle son, Brett. "We kids will prepare the Christmas Eve and Christmas day, meal this year, mom," came from the eldest son, Michael. ...