Ponderings by Dan Ponder

One of the highlights of traveling is keeping your eye out for unexpected things.  With a couple of hours to kill on a recent trip to Scottsdale, Arizona I decided to follow the small sign directing travelers to the Musical Instrument Museum.   Having never heard of it, I did not have very high expectations,…

The Words of a President The lines were extended through the hall, out the door and around the building.  Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have gotten inside the building for the long wait before the main doors opened.  After all, it was 92 degrees outside. I had the opportunity to hear President George Walker…

The Day I Dreaded Has Come The clock just passed midnight and the new day is April 24, 2013.  It is a day that I have been dreading, but the time has come to say goodbye.   We all hate losing something we love.  It means something different to everyone. The memories come flooding back…

What is the Meaning of Life? Occasionally, like all columnists, I have a complete lack of ideas about what to write about during a given week.  Writer’s block is the common term used to describe this condition and I expect all people charged with writing regularly scheduled articles have experienced it from time to time.…

The Walk That Changed My Life As a young boy my family would head to the Smoky Mountains each summer.   While traveling to the campgrounds we would always cross the Appalachian Trail.  “One day you and I will hike part of that trail”, my Dad would say.   Unfortunately, we never did. Twenty years later,…

He Knows My Name They started marching in as soon as the music started.  There were dozens of kids carrying the best flowers from all over town.  The stark cross built decades ago by Bob McLeod stood at the end of the aisle as it does during each Lenten Season.  Slowly it was transformed into…

The Greatest Game of My Life Baseball was my favorite sport growing up.  I read every book in the children’s library about the legends of the game.  I can still remember first learning about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb.  Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial were all bigger than life heroes to…

He Was A Good Man I am always hesitant to write about the passing of a friend.  For one thing, I have been blessed with many, many friends since I moved to Southwest Georgia 37 years ago.  For another thing, with my own advancing age, I find that I mourn those who have touched me…

Success Versus Excellence It has been my pleasure this week to attend our company’s annual General Manager’s Rally in beautiful Callaway Gardens. Our theme this year was “Success Versus Excellence”. My opening remarks were about the many successes our company has enjoyed this past year.  Sales and profits are up in spite of a tough…

The hall closet had slowly been filling up since we moved into the house.  For over 30 years it held the equipment we used to record our lives.  Cameras, often bought but never sold, occupied every shelf.  The closet was the graveyard, so to speak, of all the technology I had purchased over the years.…