Ponderings by Dan Ponder

American baseball legend Yogi Berra probably never went through a hurricane, certainly not like Hurricane Michael. However, his classic comment has been used time and again to remind people to wait, because the final struggle might still be around the corner. It has now been almost 200 days since Hurricane Michael roared through this area…

The flying buttresses were the first thing that attracted me to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. They were a nearly perfect example of an architectural feature that allowed buildings to be built with soaring ceilings before the invention of iron beams. I always wanted to be an architect while I was growing up. I had…

I will not lie to you.  It was a sucker punch to the gut.  It left me feeling sick to my stomach.  Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory in the longest six seconds of my life. Mary Lou and I have been loyally following the Auburn Tigers basketball team all year as they…

Like I have done a hundred times before, I walked to my rental car in the airport.   I put our luggage in the back, punched my destination into Google Maps, and drove to the exit of the car lot to give them my driver’s license.   It was cold and raining and the man…

The year was 1975.  I was just starting my Senior year at Auburn University.  I was doing well in school.  Mary Lou had just transferred to Auburn so we could spend our last year in college together.  We had friends and were having fun.  Music was a big part of any college student’s life during…

It was the day before our 41st anniversary.  Mary Lou and I were headed home from Auburn and decided to try to make it back to Donalsonville before the predicted bad weather hit.  We drove along Alabama 169 near Beauregard, as we usually do when making that trip. It wasn’t until a couple of hours…

Yesterday, he was just a fun-loving kid.  His long blond curls and athletic body made him popular with the girls and the friend that every boy wanted to hang out with.  He was a smart kid, polite, and easy to be around. This week, I was proud to watch as my nephew, Davis Evans Ponder,…

It took four tries before I finally got through to the customer service representative for my telephone and internet service.  I went through this long list of options before finally getting to the right place. Once the automated system finally got me where I thought I was supposed to be, the phone would ring. Four…

Hilton Head Island was the site for our latest visit this past weekend with my college roommate, Bill, and his wife, Pam.   Mary Lou and I visited Hilton Head many times in the early years of our marriage, but it has probably been two decades since we visited the popular vacation spot. Like many…

The minister was asking the small kids during children’s church to raise their hands if they had ever played the game “Tag”.  In this day of video games and cell phones, it was good to see that every youngster raised their hand high. The next question was if they knew what “Base” was.  It is…