Ponderings by Dan Ponder

My father handed me the check written on the Bank of Cottonwood.  It was made out to me in the amount of $750 and I deposited it in my newly opened account at Auburn Bank.  I chose that bank because it had the first ATM I had ever seen in my life.  I made many…

I sat down on the bus after the Auburn – California game at Berkely.  It was near midnight and my team had just pulled out a rather ugly win.  A lifelong friend leaned over from across the aisle and said, “I just want to hear you rant and rave”. I looked at him blankly and…

There are certain incidents in time that everyone remembers exactly where they were when the event happened.  For someone my age, they might recall where they were when they heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated.  I was on the playground at Cottonwood Elementary School when we were called back into our classrooms. I laid…

The front yard was for baseball.  Strategically planted dogwood trees served as the bases and the grass along the basepaths was worn to dirt by the end of the Summer.   My brother and I played “Wiffle Ball” for hours on end, using the rosters of the teams we represented on any particular day. The…

The thunder teased us this afternoon.   It is Monday and it has been hot and muggy up until midday.   The clouds darkened just as the rumbling began but the much-needed water has not fallen yet.  The forecast called for 98 percent chance of rain this morning, but the percentages have steadily dropped throughout…

On our recent trip to the Canadian Rockies, we were aware that there would be long periods of time that we would have no access to the outside world.  We would drive for hundreds of miles without any cell service, or gas service for that matter.  Half our hotels had no television, which was fine…

I wish I had the words to describe our last ten days in the Canadian Rockies.  It was a trip that exceeded my expectations though I have traveled many times through the Rocky Mountains in the United States.  Anytime a trip exceeds expectations is good.  This one was very good. Mary Lou and I take…

I looked out the window on the third morning of our trip to the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park.  Swiftcurrent Lake was smooth as glass mirroring the mountains which seemed to rise directly from the water.  In the distance, the Grinnell Glacier was visible high in the mountain.   After spending two days in…

Do you remember the last weekend of Summer when you were growing up?  It was always a sad day for me.  I vividly remember walking home from the school playground on a late Sunday afternoon.  The Newmans, who lived a couple of houses down, often had Indian Cane growing in their yard.  I chewed on…

The ceiling fans turn slowly in the night.  They are not on high speed because the slow click, click, click sound keeps me awake.  The other small fan on the floor supplies the white noise I need to sleep.  Between the two, the cool air provided by the heat pump is stirred and provides me…