Ponderings by Dan Ponder

  He was waiting when we arrived home.  The lights of my car caught his eyes.  He slowly moved into our neighbors’ yard, then turned and looked back at us.  It was a wary look, but no longer afraid.  It was the second night in a row this ritual was repeated. We are old acquaintances,…

Being a grandparent who grew up in the 60s, soccer wasn’t much of a thing.  We might have had a soccer ball, but we mostly used it for kickball or dodgeball.   I wouldn’t have learned much about soccer if not for my oldest grandson, Henry.  It was his favorite sport from a young age,…

Dwight Eisenhower was President.  Remote controls and cable TV did not exist, and few homes had any air conditioning.  Phones were typically placed in hallways, making conversations audible to everyone in the house. I graduated from Mrs. Kelly’s Kindergarten in the Spring of 1960. I do not recall any ceremony or cap and gowns since…

Almost 60 years ago, baseball was played on sandlot fields involving boys of different races during times of segregation.  In small towns, it was necessary to include both black and white boys to have enough players for the games.  That is the way I grew up. During the off-season, we would gather on Saturday and…

My mother, Josephine Ponder, celebrates her 70th Mother’s Day this Sunday.  As her firstborn, I asked if having a 70-year-old child made her feel older.  She simply said she is glad to be here. I recall our earliest Mother’s Day celebrations.  We often attended church with my grandmother Catharine.  Typically, mothers wore corsages provided either…

The trip lasted 19 days, but the planning, packing, and jet lag can add more than another week. Without careful preparation, you’ll be tired at both the start and end of your journey.  I focus on taking pictures, lots of pictures, working under the belief that it may require 100 attempts to take one great…

Upon arriving in Cairo, Egypt from Madrid, Spain we found ourselves in a completely new culture and climate.  Cairo is a city of over 25 million people.  Their highways have faint lines in the roads to define the lanes, but no one pays any attention to them.  I have heard there are traffic lights here,…

Sometimes, despite months of planning a long trip, things change.  You may see it coming, or not, but it is all part of the fun of traveling.  Embracing the unexpected. During our first four days in Spain, we have had a wonderful time.  The people have been friendly and helpful, the streets are clean, the…

What a journey.  The road began in Maui and took us across the country, ending in San Antonio.  Not the way we would have liked the trip to end, but in all honesty a journey that exceeded all expectations.  It does not happen by accident. I have been a so-so basketball fan for a long…

This is a break for those who are tired of my March Madness articles about the Auburn basketball team.  Part of it is that I am mindful that I have written about this amazing journey for three weeks in a row.  Most of my readers, at least those that read newspapers, probably lean towards UGA,…