By CARLA OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, Nov. 24, 2016 — While sitting in front of the fire this week in thoughtful prayer for so many who seem to be in need right now, it occurred to me that I often draw my strength from several women in my life. And then I remembered a column that I…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 23, 2016 — For three consecutive Iowa State Fairs now, I have been part of the judging team for “Mother Podolak’s Chili Contest.” with the radio voices of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, play-by-play commentator Gary Dophin and color analyst Ed Podolak. It’s been about as much fun…
COOPER, Iowa, Nov. 15, 2016 — In the 12 years we’ve lived at our Simple Serenity Farm here in west central Iowa, we’re pretty sure there’s not been an autumn as pretty as the one we’ve enjoyed this year. The harvest went very well for our farm neighbors, even though grain prices aren’t what we’d…
IDA GROVE, Iowa, Nov. 14, 2016 — We haven’t seen anything like this “Super Moon” since 1948, the astronomers tell us, and we won’t see it again until 2034. To put it in earthly perspective, that makes it almost as rare as a championship by the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. And so we…
STORM LAKE, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2016 — Thoughts you think while you watch the St. John’s Johnnies, the NCAA DIII football juggernaut from Minnesota, run-up a 33-0 halftime lead on your Buena Vista Beavers on a perfect September Saturday afternoon in the stadium on the lakeshore: — I sure got my money’s worth, having paid…