It has been six years since my son and daughter-in-law divorced. They spent 20 years together and had two sons. They went through their 30s and 40s together. As Eric, my son, approaches a second commitment, it looks like he learned a thing or two. I have gotten his permission to post a letter he […]
A Different Drummer: Comfort zones begone
I got dragged out of my comfort zone repeatedly last week by my teenage grandsons, and though I struggled and grumbled along the way, I had a good time looking back. It was therapeutic. It made me realize how much fun exists just over one’s invisible barriers. “We’re watching the boys for four days next […]
Jeff Burkhart’s “Rhyme and Reason”: My Daydream
I feel a daydream coming on, my mind is free to wander It’s just my way of killing time, and lets me think and ponder I’m not constrained by Earthly bonds, or by geography Each dream’s unique and lets me peek, in my psychology In some I rule the whole wide world, in others I’m […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Thibodeau
Thibodeau Thibodeau came to me in the middle of the night while scratching my own back. I went downstairs to check him out on Yahoo to make sure he wasn’t carrying some hex from a cane field or Botany Lab. No, the coast was clear, I could spell him anyway I wanted, my Thibodeau wore […]
Andrew Kelly: Free speech advocates mistaken in defending Alex Jones
One of the newest hot-button debates surrounding free speech in America is that of controversial talk show host Alex Jones’ content being removed from a plethora of streaming services such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Spotify, as well as the deletion of his social media platforms. Many on the left and center say that this was […]
Voice of the Village: How’s your relationship with your grandchildren?
By Lois Requist I’ve always gotten a kick out of Judith Martin, who writes the Miss Manners column in many newspapers. I like her common sense. Recently, a mother wrote to Miss Manners, saying that her parents had moved across the country to be near their daughter and her family. The mother said she had […]
Devon Minnema: The ongoing impact of the Jones Act
There are many obscure laws out there that affect our communities, however there are few as impactful on West Coast communities than the Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. First, a quick definition of a somewhat rare term. “Cabotage” is the shipping of goods by water to and from ports […]
Benicia Letters Once More: Al’s Barber Shop
The following “letter” is part of the continuing series from the unpublished novel by James Garrett, “Benicia Letters Once More”. He does not plan to publish the book but instead is choosing to share the letters with the readers of the Benicia Herald. The letters continue the storyline of Garrett’s first novel “Benicia and Letters […]
A Vibrant Faith for the 21st century: A great book on reading scripture
By Rev. Henry Sun In 1976, what I consider the defining book on an evangelical doctrine was published. Written by Harold Lindsell, at that time the editor of Christianity Today, “The Battle For the Bible” made the case that the foundational doctrine for Christianity was its doctrine about the Bible, and the most faithful, historic […]
Hiking Back in Time: A new village discovered in Benicia
Welcome back to a monthly column focused on local day hiking destinations, that with a little imagination, will take you back in time to when our local Native Americans lived in a garden of Eden we now call home. For more hiking ideas, go to www.eastbayhillpeople.com and read the “Travelogue Blog” tab. Today’s story may […]