McCook Daily Gazette: Columns: Dick Trail

Emily's family (05/14/13)
This is an all-American story. Well it is the way life used to be and can/should be again. Last week Emily graduated from McCook Community College receiving an associate's degree in graphic design. Her whole family came to celebrate, aunts, uncles, both sets of grandparents (still alive and still married to their original spouses) plus all her siblings and cousins, an even dozen no less and all younger. ...

Graduation (05/07/13)
The cranes are gone and the grass is green. The drive to Omaha was delightful. Not withstanding our most recent snowfall, spring may finally have sprung. Grannie Annie and I proudly went to watch our eldest grandchild, Monique Ann Monzon, graduate from college. ...

Another item off the bucket list (04/30/13)
Returning to Nebraska from our Air Force career some years ago, Grannie Annie placed an item on our bucket list. That goal was to drive all the numbered highways in Nebraska. No hurry to complete, just take the back roads when time and destination permits...

Best seat in the house (04/23/13)
I had the best seat in the house last week. Well maybe Kevin, the captain of the jet, seated just 20 inches to my left had it better if one values the privileges of command. No matter, the view was identical. We leapt off the ground from the municipal airport at Gary, Indiana, just after dusk. ...

Mentor pride (04/16/13)
Good job Mike. Yes that is Mike Hendricks, McCook Community College professor, who posts his weekly "Mike at Night" column in the Gazette. Mike was sharing the success of a couple of his MCC students that he helped inspire to reach life goals. He uplifted Grant Tietjen and Kayla Sanders both students from McCook that had enrolled in Professor Mike's Sociology classes. ...

Mustang country (04/09/13)
The boss wanted to go to some small town in western Indiana. Scanning the chart we found the closest airport that could handle the jet was Danville, Illinois. Never heard of it but if the boss wanted to go there, Danville it was. Such is the life of pilots that fly in corporate aviation. ...

Harbinger of spring (04/02/13)
It is a sure sign of spring and wonderfully welcome. Grannie and I drove to Omaha for Easter with our daughter and family. Along Interstate 80, over the many miles that it parallels the Platte River, sandhill cranes by the hundreds (thousands?) were spotted feeding in the fields...

The night the music died (03/26/13)
I have to be one of the luckiest guys going. Privileged to be a crewmember on a fast corporate-class airplane, we occasionally travel to some interesting locations. Recently, the crew spent several hours lying over in Lubbock, Texas, awaiting our passengers return...

Field trip (03/19/13)
Twenty-some bright, eager rambunctious but well-behaved fourth graders arriving to explore, touch, feel and learn about airplanes. It has become an annual ritual. Mary Dueland, English teacher extraordinaire at Central, brings her class to my hangar to experience real airplanes...

Sleet or snow, we (didn't) go (03/12/13)
Well, yes, we executed the famous 180 and got the heck out of there. The maneuver is one new pilots are taught when they "accidentally" stumble into clouds. Do the 180 degree turn and return to where you just came from because having just been there you know what the weather was like. The turn can be scary the first time a pilot flies into a cloud, very scary...

New secretary of defense: Time will tell (03/05/13)
Chuck Hagel native Nebraskan. Former U.S. Senator(R) Chuck Hagel from Nebraska. Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense. How about that? Combat wounded in Vietnam and decorated for valor, we in the great State of Nebraska can be proud to claim him as one of our own...

Innocent or enemy? (02/26/13)
His given name was Warner Worth but his nickname was "Windy," Windy Worth. He hailed from Brooklyn, New York and honestly he was a fish out of water here in rural Nebraska. Dad found him at the local labor exchange. It was potato harvest and dad needed a driver for our Model A John Deere...

Granny's cup overfloweth (02/19/13)
How would you like to be a young soldier headed to Afghanistan today? Most likely you will be one of the last of the American personnel to be assigned. By presidential decree our U.S. mission to bring peace is to draw to a close, win or lose, in the year 2014. Our politicians will simply declare victory, get out and let the devil take the hindmost...

Keeping us safe (02/12/13)
Your writer caught a little flack concerning a recent column. The one grumbling is in law enforcement and suggested that I knew how the local citizens came to be saddled with the expense of a new jail. He is correct. Being a long time observer of this community has its advantages...

To move or to stay (02/05/13)
Sometimes in life one has to hit the "restart button" to get your head on straight. Grannie and I have been toying with possibly relocating to spend our remaining sunset years. In order to decide we have been checking it out. Our son lives in the L.A. ...

Starve the beast (01/29/13)
Local government is running rampant. What we need is a dictator to coordinate and hold costs to a more reasonable level. Case in point. This week, the Red Willow County Board may decide to hire a replacement director for the County Health Department. Possibly they will hire an interim director and kick the can down the road until the end of the year. Probably the end result will be to eliminate the department completely...

A little-known tribute to warriors (01/22/13)
The first time that I visited I was age 21 years and it left an indelible impression. At the time I was a cadet aspiring to become an Air Force officer, a profession that could lead to a career disaster displayed beneath my feet. The Navy's harbor boat was tied up to a rusted and heat-warped steel platform 15 or 20 feet in diameter. ...

El Dictator (01/15/13)
His name was Mike and we spent a lot of time together learning to fly an old airplane. It was in the spring of 1972 and I was preparing to go on my 4th deployment to the war in Vietnam. The airplane was the thirty-plus year old C-47 "Gooney Bird" or DC-3 in civilian colors when used everywhere as an airliner...

The world's best leader (01/08/13)
At age 80 he appeared fit as a fiddle and his handshake proved that he was solid as a rock. Al Dugard, Air Force Colonel Retired, the best leader that I ever had the privilege to serve and his lady, Rosemary, met Grannie Annie, our son, Don (Dusty), and me at the restaurant in Southern California exactly on time. It had been 33 years since we worked together and the memories flowed eloquently that evening...

A sad day (12/18/12)
The news of the school massacre at the school in Connecticut has been sickening. It casts a pall over our home and probably yours also. It is hard to get ones arms around such an evil act. How did our society allow that evil individual to even exist? What kind of a monster will kill his own mother in cold blood? Young children are to be protected, not murdered. It was an act so bad and it hurts deeply...

Let's convert city auditorium into jail (12/11/12)
Gee why didn't I think of that myself? Great idea. Appeals to an old time proven frugality that says make the best use of what you already have. Yep, a friend posed the question after observing the college modifying True Hall into a bus barn. He asked "Why not convert the City Auditorium into the County Jail"? Great idea. ...

Boxes arrived (12/04/12)
Grannie Annie heard from her sergeant in Afghanistan. The packages that she, and this community sent, had arrived! "Thank you for all of the boxes everyone is truly appreciative of everything you have done for us," read the short note. Then the other shoe dropped! "Unfortunately we have lost three great Soldiers," continued the Sergeant's missive. ...

God blesses Santa (11/27/12)
'Tis the season. We are about to get inundated with calls to "Keep Christ in Christmas" or decrying the "War on Christmas," many versions same theme. It is as if the very name of the holiday doesn't proudly convey, loud and clear its meaning a solemn mass in honor of Christ! Christmas is a beloved federal, state, and local holiday no matter what the super religious, the secular, atheistic, non-Christian or just "Politically Correct" crowd may say. ...

Racist is the charge (11/20/12)
I didn't know that I was a racist but evidently it is true because "Mike at Night" stated it as fact. "Racism was the underlying current in both of Obama's races for the Presidency and it's the underlying current in the secession movement as well." writes Mike Hendricks in his column titled "A Nation Divided."...

The stench of politics (11/13/12)
Disappointed? Sure in my opinion the wrong guy won the election. Now we will have four more years of Barack Hussein Obama. So be it. When Bill Clinton was reelected President I felt the same. Then President Bill got himself caught, finally, diddling with the intern. He earned impeachment and was largely ineffective the rest of his second term...

Our Kennedy experience (11/06/12)
Lieutenant you have a choice. Move to Forbes AFB or Schilling AFB both in Kansas, or to Otis AFB on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Being the clever new guy in the squadron I wrote the Kansas choices and left the third line blank. We were stationed at Great Falls, Montana at the moment and my squadron was closing after just six months of duty there...

Our new Lincoln County farm (10/30/12)
Are you kidding me? Use taxpayer's tax money to buy developed farm ground, undeveloped it, then continue to pump irrigation water from under it to dump into the Republican and North Platte Rivers. All that just to send water to Kansas. Pumping costs money but there is always more available, just raise the "occupation tax" that irrigated farmers are forced to pay. What could go wrong with that kind of a deal?...

College debt crisis (10/23/12)
In a recent editorial the Gazette made recommendations on how to vote on the Nebraska Constitutional amendments. Somehow I cannot agree that the idea of stretching term limits for elected State officers from two terms to three is a good idea. The Gazette sees term limits as limiting the choices of the electorate. Not mentioned was the unfair advantage that the incumbent has over the newcomer...

A new word (10/16/12)
I happened upon a new word, to me at least, "constitutive." It is one of those words that you can put in your mouth, roll it around, taste its richness and savor the potential of significant meaning. The author using the word in an historical perspective is one Avishal Margalit writing in a publication called the Biblical Archaeology Review. ...

Fifty years and counting (10/09/12)
Happy anniversary to all you survivors of the Cuban Missile Crisis. From Oct. 15 through the 28th the odds were high that World War III was about to start. America and the USSR for two weeks teetered on the brink of what promised to be a conflict of epic proportions. It was one of those signature events where those of us in the active military who played even a small part in the preparations for nuclear war can vividly remember where and what we were doing at the time...

Choose wisely (10/02/12)
A reader responded to my last column on the Gazette's Blog the electronic version of the newsprint McCook Daily Gazette. A person with the appellation "hulapopper" wrote: "Just like requesting a song on the radio, may I request a column? Before the election why don't you do an expose of the mentality of the electorate. ...

Out of Afghanistan (09/25/12)
Several have asked Grannie Annie if she would be sending packages to our troops in Afghanistan again this year. The answer is yes and she already has made connections with Chaplains and their Assistants in three FOB's (Military talk for "Forward Operating Base")...

Flying high (09/18/12)
Happy birthday to the U.S. Air Force. On 18 Sep 47 it became official; the former Air Corps branch of the Army became a separate military service. USAF now marks 65 years, of which I was privileged to be a part for about one third. A long time member of Strategic Air Command our motto was "Peace Is Our Profession."...

Political junkie (09/11/12)
Today is the anniversary of the day that the Radical Muslims declared war on us the United States of America. The specter of the second airliner being flown into the World Trade Center, replayed time after time on TV -- that scene is engraved in minds for the rest of our lives...

Blue moon (09/04/12)
"Once in a Blue Moon," is a phrase that I have heard as long as I can remember. I figured that the meaning was self explanatory -- something that didn't happen very often. Just one of those things that we accept and don't think much about. Then last week the wife of a friend from high school days was filling us in on her husband's misfortune. ...

The country's best popcorn (08/28/12)
Big hurricane Isaac is nearing the Gulf Coast as I write. Reminds me of the early sixties when we were stationed on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Cape of course juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and on occasion catches a hurricane arching up the east coast...

Wisdom (08/21/12)
Was it wisdom or was it foresight encouraged the development of irrigation in this area of Southwestern Nebraska? A year of drought as we are experiencing at present with dryland crops failing and the irrigated looking to make outstanding yields puts irrigation in the wisdom column. How did it happen and will our good fortune continue?...

Drought or bust (08/14/12)
Reflections from a "has been" farmer. The pastures are dried up, actually dormant, and crops have all failed. Doom is us. At least that seems to be the current feeling in the local area. The politicians push it so they can step in and throw money at the problem...

A love story (08/08/12)
It is the ultimate love story. Soldier meets girl in a foreign land, they marry and live happily ever after. Well almost. The soldier was actually a fighter pilot, flying an F-16. the hotrod single engine jet they call the "Viper." Ascribing to the typical fighter pilot creed of life in the fast lane -- fly, love, tomorrow we may die and may the devil take the hindmost -- Scot was stationed in Japan and living the life of a fun-loving bachelor...

A walk (07/31/12)
"Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said 'What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?'...

Another zoning debacle (07/24/12)
A few years back the sign along the highway read "Population 8379". That was in 1953 as I drove into McCook to attend high school. The 2010 census proudly reports that McCook, Nebraska had 7698 residents abiding. Sixty years of essentially no growth! What happened?...

Picking the web (07/17/12)
What is with the automotive advertising lately on TV? It seems that every scene is of some SUV (even the more politically correct brands) are shown raising dust in four wheel slides. On the beach, in the parking lot or on country roads each car is depicted in a full out controlled skid. No caption saying "Don't try this at home!" The message is simply drive like a fool and ignore any consequence. I'm wondering how many lives the ill- considered advertising is going to cost society...

Old buildings (07/10/12)
It sits just west of the main intersection in Traer, Kansas. Beautifully constructed of native stone the engraved letters above the imposing doorway proudly proclaim "Dist 14 School." Two stories tall with large windows it has an airy look of strength. Strong enough to withstand the Kansas wind, winter snow or maybe even a tornado, all of which it has proudly born for more than 70 years...

Fourth of July, thrice (07/03/12)
According to Google, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail: "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. ...

Senate farm bill (06/26/12)
This week the U.S. Senate passed their 2012 version of the Farm Bill. Both our Senators Nelson and Johanns voted for approval. The five year projected price tag is about half a trillion dollars over its five-year reign. It is a little hard to get one's arms around that kind of money and breaking it down to only $100 million a year doesn't aid much to understanding either...

Senator grazing rights (06/19/12)
Two Senate terms ago Nebraskans sent our former Governor E. Benjamin Nelson to Washington to represent our interests. Senator Ben, Democrat, campaigned on his intentions to be an independent voice representing the conservative outlook for which our state is noted...

Out of the blue (06/12/12)
The plain white envelope addressed to Ms. Ann Trail came in the morning mail. There was no stamp, just the words "free" cancelled by the USPS. The return address on the back included an APO zip code. Let me share: 24 May 2012 My name is ... and I would like to thank your for the absolutely beautiful crosses you have made for us. But most importantly, thank you so much for the prayers you send our way...

Your president in action (06/05/12)
The line to check in for security screening was very slow moving. I struck up a conversation with an older couple waiting behind me. He volunteered that he was a World War II veteran and they were going to watch a grandson graduate. I asked if he was excited to hear the speaker and his wife piped up "We didn't tell him until we got here as he wouldn't have come if he had known!" The old gent had been in the Navy in the Pacific Theatre during World War II and was proud to have served. ...

Our future is in good hands (05/29/12)
Lance issued the challenge. Come to his graduation from the Air Force Academy and administer his oath of office. The only catch was that I was to wear my uniform, the one I wore when I retired for the Air Force back in 1979. There was a bit of a problem as the old uniform, hanging in the closet over these many years had shrunk considerably in size. ...

Primary success (05/22/12)
The call came from a cell phone on his tractor. The question "Who should we vote for, Stenberg or Bruning?" He and his wife would take time to vote in the rather inconsequential primary election in Nebraska but more important to the questioner was finishing his annual task of planting corn. My suggestion, "Deb Fischer." "Who is that?" was his response...

Old airplanes and memories (05/15/12)
"Wow I thought Nebraska was all flat!" The words of the young pilot I was teaching to fly my 1946 Aeronca Champ. She had learned to fly in Florida and is part of the Air Ambulance flight crew now operating out of the McCook Airport. (Forget its official name!) Life Team flies a twin engine turboprop "King Air" aircraft that is most comfortable above 10,000 feet where most everything down below does indeed look more flat. ...

Good news and disgust (05/08/12)
Good news! Grannie heard from her warriors in Afghanistan and all is well. Actually she received a form letter thanking all who had sent boxes to the troops during the unit's tour of duty. They are rotating back to their regular duty station, from whence they came, in Germany...

NIMBY (05/01/12)
Things one learns while mowing lawn. A former Red Willow County deputy stopped by to tell me that the old Brown McDonald store, presently in renovation, is going to be the new jail! "Yes and on Monday morning Paul Wood, Red Willow County attorney, will be at the Commissioners' meeting to protest. Not across the street from my office!" chortled the spreader of news. Loved it! Human nature in action...

Rebel with a cause (04/24/12)
The friends and family were gathered to pay tribute to a life well-lived. Officially a it was a "Visitation and Memorial Service" but it was more than that. The parking lot was filled with motorcycles. Nearly every seat in the chapel was taken. No respectful hush there. Most everyone was chattering reliving exploits of the departed...

An apt monument (04/17/12)
It has been most interesting to watch the pro- and anti- machinations concerning the prospect of a new jail for Red Willow County. I have not attended any of the County Board meetings but like the public have read what has been published in the Gazette. Evidently, many individuals have strong feelings about the subject. Every taxpayer too should be interested because we are the ones who will have to eventually pay the bill...

Celebrate (04/10/12)
This week I had a delightful conversation with Sean Cappel, son of Rich and Deb who operate the NAPA store in McCook. Sean had just completed his first flight as a pilot in the F-16. It is officially known as the "Viper" but for those who fly it fondly the "Electric Jet."...

'Tis the season (04/03/12)
It is the season of renewal. Flowers are smiling at us. Farmers are busy preparing to plant. Winter wheat is a pretty green and seemingly growing an inch a day. Baby calves with their mothers populate our pastures. It is a time of hope and a time for renewal in our corner of paradise. It is also Holy Week the time of renewal for our Christian faith...

Rumbling in the jail (03/27/12)
To satisfy Nebraska law the Red Willow County Board of Commissioners have plans in motion to build a new county jail. A score of local citizens are opposed to building the needed facility on the site selected by the Commissioners. Each group has valid reasons for favoring or opposing the site adjacent to the Courthouse. What to do?...

Hero flag (03/20/12)
This community received an unmatched honor last week. Tyler Neff, on the behalf of his DUSTOFF unit in Afghanistan, presented Grannie Annie an American Flag that he had flown Dec. 13, 2011, on an actual medical evacuation "MEDEVAC" mission Afghanistan. ...

No news (03/06/12)
"No news is good news" or so the old folk saying goes. Unfortunately the adage is not the way things always turn out. The depressing news coming from Afghanistan reports daily rioting and more American killed. Grannie Annie is getting concerned because she hasn't heard from "her" Chaplain's Assistant stationed there in the armpit of the world. ...

Mary Jane (02/28/12)
There is yet again another initiative being pressed nation wide, and especially in Nebraska, to make marijuana legal. People doing the heavy lifting posit that if the use and possession of marijuana were legal crime would go down, taxes (as tobacco and alcohol are taxed) would flow into local state and national coffers and users would be happy. Don't worry -- be happy. It all makes me wonder...

Let them teach (02/21/12)
Noted in passing, the headline read: School board OK's early dismissals each Wednesday. Wow a shortened day for all the McCook public school kids every week. I'll bet the kids will like that! The teachers probably would like it, too, except they will be kept in the penalty box for the extra two hours each week. I'm also sure that this taxpayer is not convinced that the truncated school day each week is a good idea, either...

A compassionate volunteer (02/14/12)
Fred is a farmer living a fair distance northwest of this fair city. Unmarried, Fred also owns a nice single-engine airplane that he flies off his farm strip. An innovative kind of guy, he constructed his own hangar using parts from obsolete center pivot irrigation systems and proudly proclaims it to be "mouse proof." That in itself is no mean trick because mice looking for winter shelter can squeeze through the tiniest gap to set up cozy homes in little-used airplane interiors...

My great race (02/07/12)
And the winner is: The Airlines! It wasn't a great race, just a trip from McCook, Nebraska to Greensboro, N.C. to fetch a newly purchased Cessna 182, Skylane, and fly it back to McCook with the new owner. Sleepy-eyed, I departed McCook at 4 a.m., drove to North Platte and boarded Great Lakes to make connections in Denver. ...

Getting the scoop (01/31/12)
There was an interesting letter to the editor this past week from a lady who bravely signed her name Dixie Kofler. She suggested, possibly tongue in cheek, that this newspaper run a "gossip page" for all the different businesses/agencies in the community. ...

Small town, big city (01/24/12)
When I retired we chose to live in small town Nebraska. We could have chosen one of the larger cities, Denver or Oklahoma City where we'd been stationed during my Air Force career. Omaha, Miami, New York City or Los Angeles were possibilities too. No regrets and every once in awhile I'm reminded why we prefer small town America...

Silence is not always golden (01/17/12)
"November five four Tango Tango you are cleared to depart runway one eight. Upon reaching three thousand feet turn right to a heading of two seven zero and climb to one one thousand." Do we were cleared to fly by the simulator instructor. For once, our twin Cessna rapidly accelerated and took off into a clear blue sky. I had just made the turn to the west when the fire light came on for the left engine...

One of the Greatest Generation (01/10/12)
Ninety two years and counting. Today was Grannie Annie's uncle Merle Teel's birthday. Merle is one of the millions of young men and women that fought in World War II and who are rapidly disappearing from the scene. He is one of my heroes of that era, those that dropped everything and joined to serve in a myriad ways...

Our hometown senator (01/03/12)
Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion I feel a little sorry for our own Senator Ben Nelson. Senator Nelson's decision to not run for re-election must have been painful but prudent after testing the water to determine the mood of Nebraska voters. ...

Life in the city (12/27/11)
The year 2011 is about to draw to a close. It has been interesting to watch the pattern of new construction in the local area. A considerable number of new homes have been built, several in progress, in rural areas surrounding McCook. However I can recall only one house constructed within the city limits. Hmm, how can that be?...

Feliz Navidad (12/20/11)
It seems long ago that I spent the summers of 1967, 1968 and 1969 in Southeast Asia supporting the Vietnam War. Winters of those years meant additional time away from the family on SAC alert or off on temporary in exotic places like Alaska. It was the typical life of an aircrew member and our families adjusted...

Pain in the night (12/13/11)
It is two o'clock in the morning and the pain is burning in your gut. You are 800-plus miles from home enjoying all the amenities of deer camp. It is cold outside in a snow-covered country side. What are you going to do? That was the dilemma facing Paul Bond last week while enjoying a successful week long black powder deer hunting trip. ...

Politics as usual (12/06/11)
It has been an interesting experience watching the rise and fall of presidential candidate Herman Cain. Herman the man who talked good sense in promoting business, both large and small, as the economic engine of this country. Herman who encouraged moving away from an ever expanding federal government and back to the successful model envisioned by our founding fathers. ...

A small part of 'it' (11/29/11)
One of my favorite authors is a diminutive lady, Lane Wallace, who writes for aviation-themed publications. Lane has been an aviation columnist, editor, and author for more than 20 years. Assignments for past articles include her actually flying in a U-2 aircraft above 70,000 feet altitude, and in another event, she checked out in a Cessna Caravan and flew missionaries and supplies around southern Africa. ...

Thanksgiving a time to celebrate (11/22/11)
It appears that the weather man is going to smile on us with clear skies and warm temperatures for Thanksgiving this week. I'm a thinkin' that we in Southwestern Nebraska have much to be thankful this season. The fall crops are mostly in the bin and reports are of a good harvest. ...

They yet live among us (11/15/11)
Veteran's Day has come and gone but the memories continue. As a reminder of the annual commemoration of service by American GI's someone went me a YouTube video, produced by the History Channel, of a World War II B-17E mission in the Pacific, circa 1943. ...

Nebraska at her best (11/08/11)
From the south she came, tentative and alert. She a whitetail doe kept looking back telling me that there were more to come. Then her partner, an even larger doe, appeared accompanied by a half grown fawn. Each deer would pause to graze on the manicured blue grass lawn then head held high would look and listen for danger. ...

Trouble ahead (10/25/11)
We were just a couple of pilots flying cross country in a private airplane. The takeoff, approach and landing portions of such flights are busy times. In fact, professional airline crews are enjoined to suppress any extraneous conversation, they call it a "sterile cockpit," and concentrate only on the business at hand during those critical phases of every flight. ...

Teaching, mentoring and twice blessed (10/18/11)
In a recent column, I bemoaned the fact that southern California schools, even in safe neighborhoods, used locked gates to protect their schoolchildren. On return to McCook, Scott (Iraq War hero, former highway patrol, and handyman) called to inform me those fences and locked gates are also currently the practice in our town. ...

Tanker reunion (10/04/11)
We were warriors once and proud. Now we are retired, mostly white-haired and still proud. It has been a gathering of a few of the men that served in the 902nd Air Refueling Squadron during the Vietnam war and our spouses. At that time, we and our young families proudly lived on Clinton Sherman AFB, near Burns Flat in western Oklahoma. ...

Silver wings (09/20/11)
On a sad note, we have all watched in horror as a beautiful old P-51 dove into the ground at the Reno Air Races. The pilot died and unfortunately, all too many spectators with him. So far, the cause has not been determined but I suspect some sort of structural failure. ...

Even bigger government (09/13/11)
Ah the joys of ever bigger government. Several years ago when the Omaha World Herald quit delivering newspapers to outstate Nebraska I subscribed to the North Platte Telegraph in addition to the McCook Daily Gazette. It is my judgment that in contrast to the Gazette, the Telegraph tends to favor a more liberal bent to its stable of writers and choice of national news articles. I tend to argue with some of those opinions...

A summer for family reunions (09/06/11)
This has been a summer of family reunions, large, small and mine. First was a Trail reunion held in Wichita, Kansas. It was a hot dry August day like the whole summer has been in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas this year. Some 60 of us gathered inside in a nice cool church hall and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. A Trail reunion means food aplenty and there was that too...

Do as I say (08/30/11)
Has anyone else noted the incongruity of TV reporters standing out in the wind and rain at the edge of a hurricane telling us lesser individuals to get away from their locale and seek shelter in a safer place? No matter the channel I checked the scene was the same, their reporter in rain gear (notice they all wear the same uniform) being buffeted by wind and rain with crashing ocean waves in the background. ...

Experiencing unintended consequences (08/23/11)
For the past several years I have sat on the board of directors of the Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska, headquartered in Kearney and better known simply as "MID." MID's principle source of funding is an annual federal appropriation through a Community Block Grant, a continuation of President L.B. ...

Happy Granny (08/16/11)
Grannie Annie (she is everybody's Grannie Annie and she is my wife) had an epiphany today. Visiting with T.J. a National Guardsman recently returned from Afghanistan she asked if he had ever seen one of the ribbon crosses that she and her friends craft and send to her adopted Chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. T.J. told her that yes indeed he had seen them over there and how he had told his compatriots that he actually knew the lady that made them...

Deja vu all over again (08/09/11)
It was a year of drought and depression and the President said "Let us dip into the government till and pay people to make work. Farmers are hurting so let's buy their produce and destroy it and they will be happy." The New Deal worked wonderfully well and the farmers and WPA workers were happy to vote Democrat...

Crisis in Washington (08/02/11)
Talk about a circus! It has been a rope-a-dope bar none. I'm reminded of watching Curly and Moe on black-and-white TV. So far it has been sheer entertainment except for the fact that it is also deadly serious business. I writing of the goings-on of Congress this past week continuing and unresolved as I write this Sunday evening...

A positive impact (07/26/11)
It was a community effort. My wife Ann was the sparkplug and prime mover. Through the past year 130 large flat rate postal boxes containing things GI's like were sent. Destined for the troops she mailed to "her" adopted Chaplain Captain Jared Vineyard and his assistant Sgt. Shane Birdsong in Afghanistan. The Chaplain and his unit are currently in the process of rotating back home. Did Ann and the community's efforts make a difference? Read the following and judge for yourself...

Pure pleasure (07/19/11)
It had rained a half inch the night before. The tires glistened wet with dew as we taxied to the end of Lynn's beautifully groomed buffalo grass runway. The engine checked out fine and the capable pilot just ahead of me powered up for takeoff. An increasing rumble until the wheels cleared the grass and we were airborne into clear cool morning air. ...

Starve the beast (07/12/11)
I was reminded this week that my father had an interesting definition of the political term liberal. According to him, "A 'liberal' is one who wants to spend the money that a 'conservative' earns." We have all been following the current machinations in Washington involving the President, the House and the Senate trying to raise the debt ceiling by raising taxes or lowering spending or some combination thereof. ...

My friend the Democrat (07/05/11)
It is a strange world here in California listening to my friend "Jim the Democrat" attribute all the ills of America today to being the fault of the Republicans. I guess turnabout is fair play as pretty much all the people I normally associate with in Nebraska are somewhat conservative in their political leanings and tend to attribute our ills to President Obama. ...

Riots and revolution (06/28/11)
It is evidently the age of electronics and the neat little devices certainly are making an impact on our lives. For father's day, my baby daughter sent me an Amazon Kindle on which one can download and read books. It is small and light, just ideal to carry with me to indulge in a favorite pastime of reading whenever I have a few unstructured moments while waiting for passengers that sort of thing. Handy is the word...

The life of a corporate pilot (06/21/11)
We awakened this morning with a light, cool, crisp, mountain breeze wafting through the open window. Our motel room high above the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is away from traffic, hence the only sound of civilization is the echo of an occasional dog barking in the distance...

Cultivating the work ethic (06/14/11)
When I travel I like to pick up a local newspaper and read to find what is happening in that community. Last week I glanced through a copy of the Omaha World Herald. I used to subscribe but that company decided not to distribute to Southwest Nebraska, evidently thinking we no longer were interested it their product. Nevertheless in their June 9th edition I found an opinion article by Dr. Gene A. Budig that stirred a passion in my heart...

Academy redux (06/07/11)
Celebrate with me. Fifty two years ago today I had the good fortune to marry my high school sweetheart, Miss Clara Ann Tondreau. Ann was raised on a farm west of Maywood. She embraced the Air Force life and during our time together we lived on the East Coast, the West Coast, as far south as one can get in the Rio Grand Valley and on the northern border of the U.S. ...

Noted with pride (05/31/11)
It was a week of contrasts. Ann and I were filling our fuel tank in a filling station in Falcon, Colorado late Wednesday evening. Arriving in the next bay was a couple of American youth in a beat up car. Both were mid twenties, one considerably overweight dressed in shorts to show off his tattooed legs. The other, dirty, long unkempt hair, skinny, the belt on his jeans well down on his butt--pretty typical of that generation...

Israel vs. the world (05/24/11)
Well over 4,000 years ago, our Bible tells us that the Jewish people entered the Promised Land, present-day Israel. Chapter 13 of the book of Numbers states that Moses sent 12 spies into the land to check it out; report on the crops grown, the people already living there and what it would take to conquer the land. ...

The graduates (05/17/11)
Ah, the joy of living in Southwest Nebraska! The trees magically turned green this week and High School graduation rites were in full force. It has been life at its best despite a strong winds and cold rain. It's been graduation time and small town USA at its best. ...

Tear down that wall (05/10/11)
Yes Sir! Yes Sir, McCook will build a 12-foot high fence around our airport. Yes Sir, the citizens of McCook will be happy to pay our share of the $1.7 million fence, latest estimate being only $88,475 from local tax revenue. After all tax money is free and everybody knows we can't be too safe!...

Dick Trail
The Way I Saw It

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