I saw bigfoot? Something crossed the road up ahead of us on two legs. I gunned the motor and hit my high-beams to get a better look. Then it re-crossed the road, again on two legs, and disappeared into the dark forest. I included the question mark in the title because, as you will see, I'm just not positive what I saw...

I have a confession to make - I am a fan of those TV survival reality shows. I love the "man against nature" aspect of people who are taken to a wilderness area and dropped off with limited equipment or supplies. They are given a set amount of time they must keep themselves alive and/or find rescue...

There are two piles on the cedar chest at the foot of our bed...always two, usually three, and sometimes even four. No, they are not dirty clothes that haven't yet made their way into the laundry room. They are books, magazines, newspapers, even mail and pamphlets, that I plan to read, or am already engrossed in. ...

Those of you who know me know that I am rarely speechless, yet words didn't come as I traced my fingers lightly over the inscription. I'd barely known him, although I had gone to school, and been friends, with his youngest sister. She and I never talked about him...

I had a column all ready for this week...until yesterday. One of my sons had come home to visit Southeast Missouri with his wife, son, and in-laws. We were next door, visiting another of our sons, when we heard a ruckus across the road. Up in one of the big oak trees, where a limb had broken off, a baby raccoon was squalling for his momma. ...

Last week my wife took me to the Tinnin Center at Three Rivers College to see a play. She had taken me to plays there before, to see such classics as "Our Town," but this time was different. This time we were going to see a musical, and not just any musical, we were going to see perhaps THE musical -- Rogers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma". She knew that "Oklahoma" is probably my favorite musical...

We went to Oklahoma to spend the holiday with one of our sons and his family. My oldest son, who is named after me, took his family out too. While several of us hung out in the back yard as the burgers, dogs, and brats were cooking, I looked down at the ground and my eyes focused on a bright, green four leaf clover. ...

There was a show on TV a couple years ago called "Doomsday Preppers." It garnered a lot of comments, all the way from people who thought those depicted on the show were complete loony tunes, to others who agreed that doomsday is imminent in one way or another...

A friend of mine told me this story a while back. She was home alone one night when two men started banging on her door. She looked out and didn't recognize them. They were obviously drug or alcohol impaired so she yelled that she was calling the police. ...

Sometimes life gets to us. Sometimes the world weighs on our shoulders. Sometimes we feel like we are at wits' end. I can remember a time when my wife and I were having a tough time. Ann worked full time and I had gone back to college full time. We had five sons. The oldest was six. The second was four. We had one-year-old twins and a little newborn surprise...

OK, now let it stop. Let me get the negative out of the way first. My full time job is working for the state at a facility that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 42 weeks a year. If I call in unable to go to work for any reason, somebody else has to put in a shift they weren't scheduled for. ...

I saw a movie recently that I want to recommend. It's not the best movie I've ever seen and some critics call it formulaic and predictable. Well, yes, but what do you expect from a sports story about a bunch of underdogs who turn out to be champions? It's a formula that has proven successful since long before Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" hit the screens and made box office history. ...

In my previous column, "Can't never done nothin'" I pointed out that some people just won't accept defeat while others seem to spend their lives looking for excuses to give up. Former Clarkton, Missouri residents Charles and Bettie (sometimes spelled Betty) Birthright, are examples of the "never quit" attitude...

I'm a fan of a couple TV shows that are popular right now. "Yukon Men" and "Alaska the Last Frontier," both show how difficult life can be in the far north, and how resourceful those people are who call that region home are. One episode of "Yukon Men" showed a couple men discover a 70 year old bulldozer in the bush. With hard work and ingenuity, they used a piece of cardboard and a mop handle to nurse the vehicle back to life after it had lain idle for several decades. Impressive...

Ernie Andrus pulls on his running shoes and stretches in preparation for what lies ahead. He steps stiffly out the door and starts moving. Muscles gradually warm up as he puts one foot in front of the other. Ernie is working on achieving a goal he set off for on October 7, 2013. He hits the road and runs his first mile of the day, then his second, then his third, then...but you get the idea...

I hate to be negative, but something happened to me a while back that really frosted me. I was gassing up at the Casey's in Lilbourn when I detected the distinct odor of cigarette smoke, and found myself dusted with cigarette ash, carried in the breeze. Parked in the herringbone parking in front of the convenience store, an older man had opened the door to his pickup and dumped his ashtray out onto the parking lot...

My oldest son was quite interested in aviation in his younger years so, about 20 years ago, I took him and his next younger brother to the airport at Columbia, Missouri to an air show. We were looking forward with excitement to watching the jets and airplanes fly over. ...

Those of you have been following my column have probably noticed that I sometimes like to point out what the real meaning of certain holidays is. Well, this time I'm pretty sure everyone knows why we observe the holiday that comes up on Monday, January 19, but I think too many people take it for granted. On that day we will commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr...

Some people go through life taking what comes and getting by. Others live their lives to the fullest. Amanda, one of my daughters-in-law, has a lifelong friend named Jessica. I'm sure, when Amanda and Jessica were little girls they shared their dreams about the lives they would have...

Phil Robertson has done it again. Phil is the patriarch of the "Duck Dynasty" Robertsons. He founded a business making and selling duck calls, expanded it to include deer calls and other outdoor supplies, made millions of dollars, and now expounds on his beliefs on religion and family on the popular TV show centered around his family. He has raised the ire of many by his frank comments, most recently by what he is alleged to have said to his granddaughter's boyfriend...