Feature Columnists

In the 1980s, a former boss said something to me that is still hard to forget. Discovering my decision to leave the radio news business after a decade to go to seminary, the secular New Yorker had a facile reaction: "Oh, I hear there's good money in (the ministry)."...

Whoever trimmed this hedge didn't do such a wonderful job. And why would anyone trim his hedge in February? As I looked closer at this unsightly yard work, I realized that the gardener had left not one single green leaf on the ground. Investigating further, I found small hoof prints all around the...

Do you often feel that your work must be clean cut, be performed in a nice environment and exist with the absence of drudgery? When people are young, dependent on their parents and, consequently, must do necessary jobs, their thoughts aren't always on where their direction is going to be in life....

There are reasons to look down while walking in the woods. Obviously you need to know where you place your feet. And you will want to avoid stepping on and snapping sticks, if you are trying to be quiet. Another reason to look down is to find interesting things on the forest floor...

Recently I took my son snow skiing. After we picked up our gear and took a quick lesson, we were ready to conquer the slopes. I learned two traits about fear from the ski trip. First, focusing on fear can lead to failure. Second, fear can keep me from trying...

My brother has an extensive knowledge of trees. After working for several years at a hardwood company during high school and right after, he can identify trees in the woods just by looking at them, from their leaves and bark. It's such a cool skill to have, and something I really admire about him...

This a photo taken on Groundhog Day. The weather was warm enough for groundhogs to be out sunning themselves or looking for green vegetation to eat, but I found none. What you see pictured here is the underside of a small crawdad. It is about 1 1/4 inches long. I dipped him out of shallow water...

"As I drove home from a visit with friends, I felt rather sad," said my friend, Connie. I was surprised, because of all the people I know, she is one of the least likely to complain. I listened intently knowing something must be wrong. I wondered what had caused her disappointment...

In just over a week it will be President's Day. One of the most consequential chief executives from the standpoint of religion was our third -- Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson espoused a view now memorialized in a letter, which many Americans believe is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It is not...

In recent years I have been taking closer notice of mushrooms I come across in the woods. Different kinds appear from season to season, much like individual kinds of wildflowers have their favored season. The mushroom I show you here is a rare one for me. And gauging from the very limited...

It is February, and love is in the air. The Bible has much to say about romantic love. One example comes from Ephesians 5:33, which says, "However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Highlighting a simple but complex principle,...

With Valentine's Day approaching, it's a good time to reflect upon all types of love in our lives, and on how we ourselves are receiving and giving love. After all, that's really what our mission is in life: to be loved and then to love. Some of the words that have had and continue to have the most...

In 1959, a new anthology series called "The Twilight Zone" hit the broadcast airwaves. Of all the TV I've watched in my life, and in full disclosure I saw this only much later in a re-run, Episode No. 8 ("Time Enough at Last") is a half hour that stays with me...

Most birds found in Missouri raise their young during the spring and early summer. Many of them will still care for their offspring for several days after they leave the nest. But the birds in my photo here were still very much a family when I found them on a local wildlife refuge Dec. 29...

"Oh, I'm so sleepy -- not ready to awake and get up yet," I heard myself whispering. I yawned lazily, opening my mouth widely, as I stretched both my legs and arms, like a cat. This was just one of my unthought-of, morning gestures, a part of my usual routine. Another facet of my morning routine is...

This photo was taken Jan. 10, as I was out walking in the rain. The ground was not frozen, so when it became saturated with excessive rainwater this and other worms came to the surface to escape drowning. This worm is called an earthworm. Across the world there are thousands of different kinds and...

In the past two years, I have been trying to resolve some health issues in my family. Parts of the treatment protocols have involved learning to recognize and manage stress. In the past two years, I have learned much about stress. The one aspect of stress that has surprised me most is that the body...

I love cows. We have some on our farm, and I love walking through our fields talking to them. Sometimes, I stop and stretch out my hand to one of them. I hope she lets me make contact with her so I can show her my admiration for all she does through a touch on her nose or side. She looks at me with...

I took this photo Jan. 5. It shows the green limbs and five buds at the ends of the limbs. Not many native North American trees will tell you during winter whether they will bloom come springtime. But the flowering dogwood will. If you have a dogwood tree in your yard, you can go now and see if it...

Peace is a coveted word. Just the meaning of the letters brings feelings of tranquility and calm. "Ah-h, "we say, "If I could merely have this feeling of serenity and safety, always; I would feel secure." Often we're only relaxed when we can find refuge in our home, and being with those we...

In a little over a week, the spring semester begins at Southeast Missouri State. It's a decided privilege once again to teach a subject close to my heart -- and since you are reading this column -- perhaps close to yours as well: New Testament Literature...

Something that struck me about Christmas this year is the truth of what we are celebrating. It is not a holiday only about the past; it is a holiday also about the future. It is a marking of our defiant hope as Christians despite the odds, and a statement of our trust in God, God's promises and...

I have a list of goals for 2019 that I did not reach. Now on the cusp of a new year raging with optimism, I will list out what I want to accomplish in 2020. No. 1: Practice self-control. Proverbs 25:28 reads, "A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." Ancient...

Trees are resilient. Most of them grow relatively straight and tall under good conditions. But many trees struggle to overcome adversity of one kind or another. I do not know what caused the tree in my photo here to take on such an unusual form. Your guess is as good as mine. I have never seen a...

Thank you Cape Girardeau. This is probably the hardest column I have ever had to write because it will be my last. It is not about gardening, but it is about you, members of this community who have made my career in gardening so memorable and for the support of my family. In a sense you have...

It has been my privilege to teach a number of international undergraduates at Southeast Missouri State University the last eight years. I've had in my classes students from Latvia, South Korea, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, China and the Philippines. I'm appreciate of their efforts to speak and...

The Rev. Charles Stanley said, "Contentment isn't something that comes naturally: It is learned." I had never heard contentment explained in this way so I read on about the meaning of contentment. Stanley talks about contentment as if it were learned in a classroom environment and he asks, "What...

Winter is the season when the woods are most drab in Southeast Missouri. Of course there are still many colors out there, but most of them are not bright and cheery. I ventured out Dec. 22 looking for a cheerful picture. A few cedar trees had some good color, but seemed too common. I found some...

This is a depiction of how ice has formed on a pond during a windless night. This is new ice. The day before saw light rain with temperatures hovering above freezing. A cold front passed through the area during the evening hours as the rain came to an end. Calm water and slowly dropping...

Overexposure and familiarity to the story of Christmas can drown out its meaning. Familiarity in a marriage can dull the romance that began the relationship. Familiarity numbs us to the importance and the meaning of what we have become so accustomed to. ...

Sometimes, it hurts to hope. The suffering of waiting, of longing, of the "not yet" can seem futile and foolishly childish. It is easier to throw in the towel, to pretend like we never wanted it, anyway. But then, ushering us into winter, Advent comes. It reminds us: Even though it's getting dark...

I tend to find good TV shows when they're just about to end. My first "Game of Thrones" episode was the finale. My wife said I missed a lot, and she got weary of explaining every plot nuance to me. Dejà vu. It seems I found the Amazon Prime series "The Man in the High Castle" at the end of its...

Have you begun to plan for Christmas -- or do you allow things to take their course? Many people go all out with decorating, buying and wrapping presents, having large groups of people over and all kinds of other festivities. As long as my mother was physically able, she would excitedly put up a...

There is a time in early winter or late autumn when something unusual happens in the Missouri outdoors. Cooler nights cause most weedy plants to slow the movement of sap upward and they die. But some perennial plants maintain a living root system and sap in the lower stem lies waiting for the first...

In a movie theater, I like to stay until the very end of the credits. I can't jump up from a film and immediately enter back into normal life when I have been deeply affected by a piece of art I've given two hours of my life to; I need the transition time to usher me back into the space around me...

Black Friday. Over. Cyber Monday. Come and gone. We are now in the middle of the Christmas shopping frenzy. By the time this column is published, there will only be about 14 shopping days until Christmas. Or, for some, 13 days before Christmas shopping begins. Gift-giving, though, is more than...

This plant is native to North America. It is a common woodland bush that goes unnoticed most of the year. Growing to only about four feet, this is a short rather spindly understory bush. Indian currant, buck-bush and coralberry are common names for this plant. It is valuable as browse for animals...

"Christmas lights, Christmas lights, everywhere you go. Up and down and all around, in ice and rain -- and sleet and snow. Why lights, someone asks, always at Christmas season? I can answer, not a task, Jesus is the reason." My thoughts first fell on the subject of lights when I read about the...

Bill McClellan is a literary hero for me -- a description which no doubt would make the longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist blanch. He would hate, one would imagine, being an object of admiration to anyone. McClellan describes himself as an old-fashioned "ink-stained wretch" in an world made...

Well, I suppose we can call a pumpkin a pumpkin even if it is really a squash. Some relatives of the squash include zucchini, ornamental gourds, scallop, butternut squash and pumpkins. The name pumpkin comes from the Greek word "pepon" which means "large melon." The French changed pepon to pompon,...

Brrrr!!!!! It's cold outside, or at least it seems that way to me. My wife tells me I am a "Wooooooos" when it comes to cold. I really don't like cold weather. I was thinking about cold weather the other day when I was looking at some landscape plants that not native to Southeast Missouri but...