Ponderings by Dan Ponder

In the past two weeks we have been bombarded with challenging news on every front, bringing uncertainty into our lives faster than we can comprehend.  In many cases we are alone, isolated, fearful and afraid.   We now know that the Corona Virus, COVID-19, is not a hoax, a Chinese plot, or a regular version…

I wrote this week’s article three days ago.  I trashed it the next day.  I knew I had to write about the Coronavirus crisis, but I did not know that the story would change each and every day. I am 65 years old and never in my life have I ever seen anything quite like…

Comfort zone.  I have come to believe those are two of the most restrictive words in the English language.  We gravitate towards our comfort zone with almost no realization of how it keeps us from expanding our horizons.   Our habits and likes extend in all facets of our life.  We like certain kinds of…

I recently listened to the critically acclaimed Serial podcast S-Town which was made by This American Life producer Brian Reed.  Recorded in 2017, it is the raw, painful and complex story of John B. McLemore who lived and died in a small, poor county in Alabama. I listened to the first two episodes when it…

Pictured here is the photo referred to in the article. Billy’s Dad’s marker is the second shadowed one  in the center of the photo General of the Armies John J. Pershing was speaking about the sacrifice of the Allied soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defending the United States of America.  While he had been…

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…