Ponderings by Dan Ponder

My wife, Mary Lou, and I headed to Compass Lake this past weekend for a few days.  We were expecting hot weather, but we still had a few things to do before our extended family comes down for the July 4th weekend.  All our children, along with our grandchildren and my mother will be joining…

The rainbow was framed between two cypress trees as I walked out on the dock at Compass Lake.  It was a bit unexpected since it had not rained, but in the distance, I could see the rain cloud across the lake that was refracting the light.   Two days later, Mary Lou and I were…

Fred Ward, Freddy as I called him as a kid, was one of my next-door neighbors until I was in the first grade.  He was probably ten years older than me, close to the age of my Uncle Joe.  Fred posted on Facebook this week about his memories of Memorial Day during his youth. They…

It is never too late.  Just ask Phil Mickelson, who just a few weeks shy of his 51st birthday became the oldest golfer to win a major tournament in professional golf this past week.  I knew something was up when I walked in Sunday afternoon and my wife, Mary Lou, was glued to the final…

It is hard to believe, but this Friday, May 21st will be the twentieth anniversary of my Dad’s death.  “Big Dan” was a huge part of my life, and still is.  I have been thinking what I would say to him if I could write him a letter.  Sort of fill him in on what…

It was just over 13 months ago that the pandemic disrupted the normal routines that we shared with our extended family.  Holidays that had been celebrated for generations were suddenly no more.  Big family gatherings held on Memorial Day and July 4th at Compass Lake were cancelled.  Labor Day went by quietly.  Thanksgiving and Christmas…

It was almost 10 years after we met in Junior High School.  My best friend had become my girlfriend and that day we walked across the stage to receive the same honor.  We were graduates of Auburn University.  The year was 1976. Mary Lou and I received our diplomas in the Auburn Coliseum.  I sat…

Many things in life come in twos or threes.  You never have one child get a cold.  You almost never sneeze just once.  I even got traffic tickets in pairs; two in the first month after I turned sixteen and two in the same day after I got a BMW roadster that was too fast…

In the past four days, I have seen five sporting events.  I attended my first Auburn softball game which was an awesome experience even though Auburn lost.  What a great atmosphere on a sunny Sunday afternoon.   I attended an Auburn baseball game on Tuesday night.  Plainsman Park is such a great venue for college…

The tin of chocolate covered pecans came right on time, arriving around the first week of December.  Some years we would open the package upon arrival, and the pecans would be gone in a couple of days.  Some years we saved them for our Christmas Open House where they would certainly be gone long before…