Ponderings by Dan Ponder

We live in a time when excess is seen as a virtue.  Walking past the shops of Paris, it was amazing to see what people will pay for a pair of shoes, a bag, or even a scarf.  A basic scarf from the French chain Hermes starts at approximately $350 and goes all the way…

Sixteen hours.  It is surely some sort of record for both Mary Lou and me.  That is how long we slept in our hotel in Paris after our arrival yesterday.  In all honesty, we both woke up a couple of times, once for an hour or so, to check emails and read about the Super…

Most of our City Council, the Clerk, the City Manager, City Attorney and I attended the Cities United Meeting held in Atlanta over a four-day period this past week. Formerly called the Mayor’s Day Conference, the meeting brings together municipal officials from cities large and small to discuss the issues that affect us all. Hundreds…

He was closer in age to me than to my mother.  Only nine years older than me, “Uncle Joe” was 14 years younger than my mother.  He was 17 years younger than my “Aunt Cat” who was a Senior in high school when he was born.   She left for Auburn before he was a…

It could not be put off any longer.   The house was empty.  The only thing left was cleaning out the garage.  Not a big job I kept telling myself.  After all, you could still park two cars inside and most everything else was on shelves. I was clearly fooling myself.   The more I…

Family legend has it that the first steps my siblings and I ever took were in the shallow waters of Compass Lake.  The water helped steady us and made it easier to take the first step or two without parental assistance. We take a lot of first steps in our lives.   Some of them were…

There are dozens of ways to take a walk from our house in Auburn.  Occasionally my path will take me by the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.  That is when I will pass by the tree. This particular oak tree is not one of Toomer’s Oak fame.  It has nothing to do with school athletics or…

Surprises.  That is what I always put at the top of my list as a child.  I wanted everything to be a surprise, though perhaps there were plenty of things I secretly wanted. The typical Christmas gathering in my family included my parents, siblings, grandparents, and occasionally my uncle.   My aunt and her family lived…

He was one of the first people I met when I moved to Donalsonville.  Portions of the old Planters Products plant that Beall Peanut Company had bought was older than my father.  Some of the facility dated back to 1909.  That was what brought me to Georgia. Some of the plant was held together with…

I am not sure how many times my wife and I have had the opportunity to visit New York City, but this is the first time that we have ever been at Christmas.   The trip has not disappointed. Our first night we attended the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in the…