New Shoes in the Rain

Hello, friends.  Hope that you were able to spend time with the fathers in your life over the weekend. I was able to spend some time with our son and his family Sunday evening, but it required a little planning and then a little more replanning.  Here's how it went down: Our son contacted me Sunday morning to see if my wife and I would be open to meeting him and his crew at a local historic site with ample public grounds.  Not really a park, but he and his wife were married there and our middle granddaughter has had soccer practice there many times over the past two or three years. Anyway, we knew that there would be a place to set up food and that we could find a nice space to meet in a socially distanced way.  So we readily agreed, and then we watched the weather forecast throughout the afternoon.  This was a little tricky because, well, it's June in Kentucky, and we don't get spring rain, we get sporadic rain and thunderstorm activity this time of year. ...

Three months ago today, we here in Kentucky entered our current state of limited activity and restriction.  And, yes, I'm fully aware that while so many places are "open," I am that many months overdue to have my teeth cleaned, I have to make an appointment to have my glasses adjusted, and I am still uncomfortable in shopping malls and other public spaces where so many others are walking around without face masks as though all is back to normal. But let me tell you a story that may wind up being symbolic of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, at least in our household. My wife and I bought our smallish patio home over twenty years ago.  We live in southwest Lexington, Kentucky, in an area that's sought after because of the school district and proximity to shopping and other amenities.  We have always liked this location, and, even though we're empty nesters, find that the house is suitable for us even when family comes to visit for the day or longer. When we firs...

Our country just experienced a remarkable and somewhat jarring two week period.  I don't think I need to replay all of the events in great detail, but the broad strokes are that the United States and a number of other countries are having the kind of open and thought provoking conversations about race and inequality that should have happened long ago. What started with the death of an arrested suspect at the hands of police officers in a major metropolitan city has evolved in such a short time into a stirring movement that has encompassed a broad cross-section of people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds.  There are discussions at the city, state and federal levels of government about new laws and regulations preserving the rights of citizens and limiting the authority of police departments and other enforcement bodies. The protests that began with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis were marked with anger, pain and outrage, and were colored by concurre...

Friends, I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and many of you probably have, too. What makes a good leader? I ask because our current predicament probably illustrates more what does NOT make for a good leader than what does.  Yet we see a lot from people in positions of authority and responsibility, and a lot of it is pretty good. I won't make this a laundry list of who's who in American politics or state offices or whatever, but let's just think of things that have made you take notice for all of the right reasons. With the dual challenges of managing the coronavirus pandemic and now with many cities and states beset by extensive civic protests and unrest, we're seeing a lot of public activity.  Much of it is positive, as the current crop of governors and large-city majors all seem to keep their overall tones in the positive end of the spectrum.  And the common thread I keep seeing is that the ones I feel are most effective are the ones who are very ...