Ponderings by Dan Ponder

I will admit it.   I stayed up until some ridiculous hour watching the Academy Awards this past Sunday night.  I have seen very few of the movies nominated for an Oscar this year.  However, the day before the show was aired, I read that the Academy Awards was the second most watched live television program…

I admit it.  I have always loved a fire.  Pyromaniac was the word my parents would use to describe me during some of my early years.  Shooting off firecrackers, grilling hot dogs and cooking S’mores.   It didn’t matter, I liked anything to do with fire. As a child at Compass Lake, we would build a…

I have watched with concern as the citizens of America have become increasingly polarized.   The trend began in earnest during my time in the Georgia General Assembly, and has moved with increasing speed during the past few years.    The place of the so-called moderate in modern government has almost disappeared.   It has been aided…

I have been following the Atlanta Falcons for a long time. I had just started the seventh grade at Girard Junior High School about the same time the Falcons began playing.  Every boy I knew was following this first pro football team to call the Deep South home. The Falcons lost their first nine games…

I stared at the mark, halfway through the second page of the music.  I had marked it with a pen and then highlighted in yellow to make sure I was aware of the revised beginning point for Sunday’s prelude at the First Presbyterian Church in Donalsonville.    With Helen Bartoz of Bainbridge on the piano,…

Given the timing of this article and all the hype surrounding the inauguration of Donald Trump as President this week, one might assume that the title is referring to Friday’s swearing in of our nation’s 45th President. However, another event made the news this week and immediately brought nostalgic memories to generations of Americans. The…

A lifelong Auburn fan might have been expected to pull for a team dressed in orange and called the Tigers against our longtime nemesis, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.  Visiting the Tampa Bay area while on a business trip to Clearwater Beach, my wife and I didn’t attend the National Championship game this past…

In a change for 2017, I am going to make of list of goals rather than resolutions.  2016 was a good year, but not great when it came to keeping the resolutions I made last year.  Maybe achieving goals will be easier than keeping resolutions. Weight control is usually the first resolution people make and…

Anyone that travels on commercial airlines regularly knows the benefits that come with having a high frequent flyer status. You have to travel so many miles a year to earn different levels. For instance, if you are a Delta Frequent Flyer, you work towards Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally Diamond Medallion Status.    The higher…