McCook Daily Gazette: Columns: Dawn Cribbs

Taking the tangles out (03/17/10)
Several years ago, I spent my winter evenings and weekends knitting fun fur scarves. I love them. I don't do turtlenecks well, but having that narrow, colorful, fuzzy yarn draped around my neck gives me that warm cozy feel and adds a little color to my sometimes drab wardrobe. I have several. Some I made for myself, others, of much higher quality, were handmade gifts from friends. I do my best each winter to color coordinate so I can wear one every day...

' and justice for all' (03/10/10)
I don't know how the newspaper reporter managed to put the words on paper. This was more than two decades ago, if not three, but the story continues to haunt me, as I'm sure it does that reporter and anyone else who read the story. I can barely stand to retell even a portion of it here...

Being good without God -- and does it really matter? (03/03/10)
Being good without God has become the mantra for many atheists, and they undoubtedly have a point. Atheists, agnostics and people who worship many gods or no god in particular, are in fact capable of goodness, capable of acts of kindness, mercy and even self-sacrifice. (Of course, the opposite is also true, evidenced by the table set up by an atheist group at the University of Texas at San Antonio offering pornography in exchange for "holy text.")...

Tears that transform (02/24/10)
Hollywood. The place for the beautiful people. Glittering lights, sparkling water, verdant gardens, even the tears are beautiful. You know the ones I mean. The tears that well up, and stream gently down the cheeks of the one who weeps. Beautiful tears, silently shed, carefully caught in a linen handkerchief, quickly subsiding...

The sin of complicity (02/17/10)
The heart is deceitful above all things. So much so that we can successfully hide the deepest darkness in the recesses of our hearts, buried so deep that it can't be seen. In fact, if no one comes around to shine a light on that darkness, the darkness is likely to remain, growing blacker by the day...

Do the right thing, even when it hurts (02/10/10)
Many years ago, I joined two of my sisters-in-law in one car while the guys piled into another. The band at the bar in Kirby, had proven to be a disappointment, so we headed back to Worland to finish our "night on the town." I was in the back seat, where I could see, in the rear view mirror, as the headlights from Wayne's Ford Maverick followed us down the deserted Wyoming highway. As we chatted, I occasionally glanced in the mirror, keeping tabs on the menfolk...

The anonymity of cyber-space (02/03/10)
I found myself indulging in an activity late last year that I usually avoid. Perhaps indulging isn't quite the right word. Perhaps I should say -- exposing myself. Not to worry, this column isn't for mature audiences only. I frequently peruse online blogs, finding the commentaries to be informative and, at times, explosive. Reader comments always seem to add fuel to the fire and different perceptions emerge from unlikely sources...

Same time, same place, same book? (01/27/10)
It seemed a little silly to me at the time, but I wanted to be a good sport about it. After all, I spend virtually my entire workday in front of a computer screen, researching, writing and mousing image and text boxes into their proper positions on pages. Usually the last thing I want to do at day's end, or at day's beginning for that matter, is to set myself down in front of another computer, for whatever reason...

Negotiating a U-turn (01/20/10)
U-turns can change a life, even end a life. The maneuver itself is commonplace in every day life. Usually, U-turns happen when we're already distracted, with 14 things left on a single day's to-do list, none of which can be done without the very thing we've left behind -- be that a briefcase, a diaper bag, a cell phone, or worst of all, my purse...

The question of the cross (01/13/10)
The design is simplicity itself. Any 4-year-old with two popsicle sticks and some glue can make one. They can be small enough to be worn around the neck or wrist, or large enough to be seen for miles across the open prairie. Too frequently they are fashioned alongside an otherwise unadorned stretch of highway, perhaps singly or in groups of two, three or more...

Contentment or chaos: A resolution (01/06/10)
Contentment. Chaos. Choices as plain as the fare offered on the menu. Choices we make each day. Some people, I'll admit, thrive on chaos. When everything is up in the air, people running hither, thither and yon, crying with Chicken Little that the sky is falling, these folks are in their element. ...

Reaching our destination (12/30/09)
I didn't expect it to come back quite so easily. Frankly, I thought it was gone for good. You see, I've been directionally challenged since moving to Southwest Nebraska 12 years ago. Prior to that move, knowing north from south and east from west was second nature. I was raised along the Front Range in Colorado where the mountains are always west and the other three directions easily plotted from that immovable point...

Dealing with multiple personalities (12/23/09)
I suffered from multiple personality disorder this week, my differing personalities vying for pre-eminence, with the lead personality changing with each tick of the clock. I've been sick. I think with the flu, since there was fever, body aches and a cough that will likely linger through the next holiday. ...

Don't miss the rest of the message (12/16/09)
It's a common human malady. And there is no escaping it. Furthermore, we are all slaves to it, with little hope of rescue. Yet we deny that it exists, refusing to believe it has any power over any of us, let alone all of us, as if by denying it we can overcome it...

Practice makes permanent (12/09/09)
When the Gazette first moved toward pagination more than a decade ago, the new computers had an interesting feature that seemed endearing, at least initially. It lost its allure after about the sixth recitation, however. When a mistake was made, a computer-generated robot-like voice would intone, "It's not my fault." It didn't take us long to find the necessary tool to silence the voice. ...

Veering off-course (12/02/09)
Can it be nearly 40 years gone since that fateful night? For some reason, I had the house to myself. Mom and Dad were probably at Tac's, the local Chinese restaurant and lounge where Mom worked part-time after her full shift in the warehouse at a magazine distributorship. ...

Paying our final respects (11/25/09)
"I don't get no respect!" was the catch-phrase of the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Respect is defined in the dictionary as "a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements." Aretha Franklin added her own take on the word with her hit R.E.S.P.E.C.T with her rendition of Otis Redding's words, written in 1965...

500 and still counting (11/11/09)
Hard as it is to believe, this is the 500th column I have written and submitted for publication in the McCook Daily Gazette When I wrote the first one, published Dec. 8, 1999, I had no idea what was soon to come. However, beginning in early 2000, and on every regularly scheduled Wednesday since, omitting holidays and vacation days, Dawn of a New Day, aptly named by my editor, Bruce Crosby on Dec. 28, 1999, has appeared...

Beyond a shadow of a doubt (11/04/09)
My parents weren't perfect. Though that's not earth shattering news, when I first realized it, I had to work through it. Up to a certain age, most children believe that their parents can do no wrong. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary. I well remember coming to my parents' defense, when some well-meaning neighbor called social services to report that something seemed amiss in our family. ...

Becoming more, and then so much more (10/28/09)
I owe a deep and heartfelt apology to every person of significant years I've ever known. Some, it must be said, are getting this deep and heartfelt apology posthumously. After all, I'm a slow learner and sometimes, even slower to admit it when I'm wrong...

I've got a secret (10/21/09)
I've kept my fair share of secrets. When planning a surprise anniversary party for Mom and Dad in 1969, my brothers and sisters and I had to involve honored guests in the planning. Even with their help, it proved to be far beyond our limited ability and we ended up bringing Mom and Dad in on the secret hoping to avoid an unmitigated disaster. We didn't. Some surprise...

Keeping it clean (10/14/09)
I don't remember when I first became aware of dirt or of my ability to get dirt on me. I do remember Saturday night baths in the kitchen at the Albion, Iowa, farmhouse, simply because they were so unique in my experience. Aunt Helen would pull out a huge galvanized tub and heat water on the cookstove, using corn cobs as fuel. Everyone went into the tub, one at a time, to emerge squeaky clean, including Uncle Floyd, who got first dibs. (Or is that first dips?)...

News, some good, some bad ... (10/07/09)
I am amazed each morning when I awaken that some desperate soul somewhere hasn't created a smoking hole in the ground somewhere in the world. Certainly, there is enough turmoil, frustration and anger in every corner of the world to ignite the conflagration...

A round about route (09/30/09)
My dad loved cars. He particularly loved fast cars. But in order to be fast, a car also must handle the road well. One night, when I was 15, it was just Dad and me, in the late hours of the night, or perhaps the early hours of the morning, westbound on I-70. Dad was driving his pride and joy, a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Yellow, if it matters...

Courage can be contagious (09/23/09)
Years ago, Danny saw a news story reporting the brutal beating and rape of a young woman on a pool table in a bar in New York. That part of the story is horrifying in and of itself, however, Danny continued to read, discovering that there were six men involved in this brutality...

Nothing but a shadow (09/16/09)
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... I have a vague and frightful memory from early childhood, awakening in a strange bedroom with unfamiliar shapes and shadows surrounding me. At first sight, it appeared as though a strong, large person was standing at the foot of the bed, looming over me, intent on harm. ...

'Man, I clung to that rock!' (09/09/09)
Deer Creek Canyon was a favorite destination when Danny and I were first married. The canyon was only short drive from Littleton, Colo., so we could be in mountain grandeur by suppertime after a long day at work, enjoying the fall foliage and the sparkling waters cascading down Deer Creek...

Diluting the truth (09/02/09)
Perusing online newspapers doesn't do their circulation numbers much good and I'm afraid I'm going to develop a permanent negative shake as I read story after story that confound me. Perhaps I should give it up. Oh wait, newspapers, online and otherwise, are my bread and butter. Guess I'll just have to take more deep breaths, exhaling a prayer after each one...

Who's going to feel the pain? (08/26/09)
My daughter Lisa is discovering that raising small children isn't quite as easy as it looks. They are inquisitive. They are busy. They are forever testing the limits and pushing hard against the boundary lines. Not only that, they are tireless. No matter how tired mom and dad may be, they're still ready for one more round...

Happy new (school) year (08/19/09)
My youngest granddaughter, Alycia, started kindergarten this week. She is not impressed. Apparently, you're not allowed to bring your little brother to kindergarten. She is inconsolable. That is sure to change. She isn't the first kindergartner to react to the first day, or even the first week of school, with tears. ...

Living on love (08/12/09)
Once upon a time, I believed you could live on love. And why not? When I met Danny at age 15, there was no doubt in my mind that our love was strong enough to weather every storm, to shield us from winter's worst blow and to satisfy our every hunger...

No points, no spark (08/05/09)
When it comes to cars and keeping them on the road well past any reasonable expectation, no one does it better than my husband. A case in point that almost proved to be the exception to that rule, stumped both Danny and our then-neighbor, Vern, no slouch himself in the automotive field...

A three-pronged pitchfork (07/29/09)
He lived a tragic life. Such could be the epithet of far too many in this day and age. While watching the myriad news accounts of Michael Jackson's death, all I could see was tragedy, in the life he lived and in the death he died. I saw the same sorrowful image when Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007, under the same dark cloud of drug abuses and overdoses...

'He who has ears, let him hear' (07/15/09)
It doesn't surprise me in the least that when folks express a desire to "recapture their youth" they never want to revisit age 13, 14 or even 15. Twenty-one is a favorite, more likely 25, perhaps as young as 18, but never those awkward, uncomfortable, transitional years of adolescence...

Nothing to fear but fear itself (07/08/09)
Winter was a long time leaving this year. It seemed we were stuck inside for most of it, often driven to the idiot box in the living room to stave off cabin fever. There are a couple of channels that never fail to amuse, if not educate. The History channel and the Discovery channel got a lot of viewing time as we snuggled under quilts to keep the thermostat low...

Forgive, but don't forget (07/01/09)
I admit my memory sometimes fails me, usually at the most inopportune time -- like when a familiar face appears and their name flies out of my head like bats out of a cave at sunset. It happens in other ways, as it did just the other day. A face, familiar in one context, struck no resounding chord in my memory in another. And the one unrecognized was astonished that I had forgotten his name, his face...

Straight A's (06/24/09)
Apathy has reared its ugly head, again. Or is that a contradiction in terms? Nearly two years ago I wrote in a column titled "How's that again?" about a statement made in the hallway of a church by a member of that church to the effect that she wasn't promoting Christianity above any other religion. That was one example at the time of statements made by self-professed believers that belied their beliefs. A definite contradiction in terms...

Revealing our vulnerabilities (06/17/09)
When the children were young, if the sun was out, so were they, playing every moment of every day. I went through a lot of Band-Aids. They wore them like badges of honor, and it never bothered any of them to recount how they got their boo-boo when someone would ask, "Oh, what happened to your finger?" Or their knee, toes or anything else...

Things to do when I'm gone (06/10/09)
I've killed my fair share of trees. Some for worthy pursuits, some not so worthy. For example, I used to love to make lists. I thought lists were so important, I would spend a half hour preparing a list of chores needing done that day: empty the trash, wash the dishes, make the beds, dust, throw a load of towels in the washer and the clean jeans in the dryer. Each of which, or multiples of which, could have easily been accomplished in the time I spent making the list...

'I call you a watchman' (06/03/09)
They call it an intervention. When someone engages in an activity that is detrimental to themselves, to those who love them, or is dangerous or addictive, oftentimes a plan is formed. Friends, family members, clergy and counselors sit down and rehearse how they will communicate to their afflicted loved one their deep concern, their hurts and their hopes, all with the intent to lovingly provide a different path for that loved one, who, if they continue on the path before them, will surely die...

Don't let routine steal the show (05/27/09)
The summer sunshine sure feels good. For awhile during the late winter and early spring, I feared we were going to live in perpetual clouds, and I'm one of those people who simply must have sunshine in her day. I don't do dismal well. Perhaps it has something to do with my name. A co-worker recently quipped when I arrived at work, "you can't have a day without a 'dawn'." The rains over the weekend, however, were welcome, the sweet smell and life-giving liquid refreshing all of creation...

A false foundation (05/20/09)
When Ben was just a baby, times were tough. I had a great babysitter lined up and decided to go to work part-time to help out with the family finances. I worked for Jon's IGA in Worland, Wyo., and enjoyed the work a lot. I was out among people and found their grocery selections to be very interesting. ...

Yet another conspiracy theory (05/13/09)
"Dawn Carlson is most likely to..." I'm supposing, if you asked my eighth grade teachers to fill in that blank for the yearbook, the majority would have used words like "fail," or "end up in jail." Fortunately, there were no yearbooks for the eighth grade. ...

Choosing your dreams (05/06/09)
Dreams die. It's a fact of life. A sad, distressing truth we each must come to terms with, sometimes many times, in our lifetimes. And it seems nothing less than heartbreak when it happens, however it happens. For some, it is the dream of motherhood. Many women have had to let that dream die, only to find it resurrected in unexpected ways. Others have to let that dream die because their own lives are cut short before the dream can be realized. I learned of one such mother last week...

Spring cleaning, in my mind (04/29/09)
Time again to clean my mental state of affairs with brief observations about any number of things. Recently, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton reassured our Chinese trading partners with the statement, "We can't let human rights muddy up the waters."...

Swimming in a river of grace (04/22/09)
A long, long overdue conversation with my best friend, my "heart's twin," meandered down the roads of shared memories recently, and visited future hopes and praises and prayers for those we love together and those we love independently of one another...

A starry-eyed bride (04/15/09)
You'll forgive me if I seem a little starry-eyed these days. Or if I seem to take a little too long with the tweezers in front of the makeup mirror. I'm watching my calories and I'm doing my best to get a good night's sleep every night so that I can look my best every day...

The science of devolution (04/08/09)
I spent a lot of time in the Gospels this week. Which is unusual only because in my own study time, I'm in Ezekiel. But, I worked with the advertising staff on a project which required Gospel narratives and in preparing the Holy Week round-up story, there I was again, traversing the route from the triumphal entry to the empty tomb, four times over...

A song in the night (04/01/09)
My sister, Debi, and I were on our way to McAllen, Texas. It was September 1982 and in the back seat of our compact rental car, all buckled in together, were her two children, Dano and Krystal and my two youngest, Lisa and Patrick. We were on a mission of mercy as Mom had just undergone a radical mastectomy and was due home from the hospital in a couple of days...

Let the games begin (03/25/09)
It must be the latest craze. And in these times of economic hardship, if I could figure out a way to make a buck off it, I would. Or, maybe not. The game is called "Deadly Denial," and there seems to be no limit to the number of players or the varieties of the game...

'Nor did it enter my mind' (03/18/09)
Occasionally, I find myself overwhelmed by frustration. When that happens, I will approach a co-worker, friend or family member -- whoever is handy at the time -- and seize them by the shoulders. Holding them perfectly still, I then shake myself silly until my head spins. Thankfully, I haven't yet had to resort to this type of release by accosting perfect strangers, but I'm not making any promises...

Except for that one thing ... (03/11/09)
I admit it. It doesn't look like much. In fact, without a microscope, it doesn't look like anything. But, look closely, and there, right before your eyes, is life. Blue eyes and blond hair or green eyes and red hair, all there. There is nothing to add to this recipe except time and a safe place to while away the approximately 6,720 hours of gestation. ...

Old friends, like bookends (03/04/09)
The news came in late last year. An old friend was ailing and the prognosis wasn't good. Barring an economic miracle, the end could come any day. It came last Friday. Duane Tappe was in Denver at the time, attending a Rotary function, and he was kind enough to bring me a copy of the last publication of my old friend, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News. What a treasure trove that final edition is. Thanks, Duane...

A caravan of memories (02/25/09)
Three pickups, each pulling a trailer and the family van made up the caravan necessary in modern times to move a family of four some 350 miles from the gentle rolling hills of Nebraska to the wide open flatlands of the Texas panhandle. Lisa, Aubrey, Alycia and Luke left Nebraska Friday morning, and arrived in Dalhart, Texas in time for supper...

Landmarks lead us home (02/18/09)
Time and gravity had taken their toll and the old brick chimney canted to the north, threatening our neighbor's roof. Something had to be done, and brick by brick, the chimney was dismantled, revealing a well-formed, obviously annually refreshed, bird's nest. They had carefully selected each twig and inspected every speck of cotton before weaving it into the wall of their home. It must have been there for years...

I want my life back! (02/11/09)
Danny and I have always had critters in our world. When dogs or cats were prohibited, we had hamsters. Most of our critters were castaways, desperate for a home and grateful to find one with us. VanDyke was thrust upon us by the same family that had introduced Danny and me years before. ...

No supper for number six (02/04/09)
I have six grandchildren. They are, by far, the best and the brightest children I've ever met, bar none. First there's Brayden, who entered my world in July 1999. I remember the day as clearly as I remember my own name, because I was there when he was born. ...

Might I have a word? (01/28/09)
The high country on the Western Slope, "just over the mountain" as Sunny Poole used to say, can be a lonely place. Especially in the dead of winter. Especially if you're laid off work. Especially if your wife and children take off for an extended visit with family. That's where my friend Sunny's husband found himself, many long years ago, long before we knew them...

Life doesn't have an un-do key (01/21/09)
My earliest writings, other than class assignments, were letters. We had a corner mail box and the red flag was frequently in the up position, signaling the postman to stop and pick up outgoing mail. Once a letter went out, I would check the mail faithfully, hoping to see my name written on the front of the envelopes delivered. It seemed to take forever...

'In the beginning ...' (01/14/09)
The deeper science goes, the stronger the argument for, at the very least, an Intelligent Designer. Anyone with the thinnest grasp of the complexity of the most basic forms of life stands amazed at the intricate detail involved in life. Even the much-maligned mosquito has its place in the scheme of things and the microscopic dead skin consuming dust mites that live in your bed and mine provide a most valuable service. ...

He's over there! (01/07/09)
The Gazette receives an average of 60-70 pieces of mail daily. Subscription payments, newspaper subscriptions, the same bills that plague every household and business in America, and of course, press releases from across the nation, all dutifully picked up at the post office and then distributed to the proper departments within the building...

Dawn Cribbs
Dawn of a New Day