Don’t despair, baseball season around the corner

January 24, 2026

The early 20th century baseball star Rogers Hornsby was asked what he did in the off season. “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” As winter drags on, we can all appreciate Hornsby’s sentiment. As I write, a 40 mph wind is blowing in below zero temps. Whatever charm winter had, (“Oh look, the mosquitoes are gone”), faded with the passing of the Christmas season. Like the weather, the news has also been bad. The divisions in our nation are wide. So, I’ve decided to write ...

What’s missing from ICE conversation? Dialogue

January 22, 2026

Right now, Minnesota is in the national spotlight, and not for good reasons. First, because our state government failed to stop massive fraud. Then because federal immigration enforcement drew national attention, protests, and tragedy. These operations removed dangerous criminals from our streets, including people convicted of violent crimes who were in the country illegally. They also resulted in the death of Renee Good. Depending on who you ask, you’ll hear two very different stories. Some say Good acted on a moral obligation to oppose federal actions. Others say an ICE officer ...

The purse

January 20, 2026

Astronomers tell us that somewhere out in the vastness of space there are curious objects known as black holes. Formed during the collapse of super-huge stars, these things are so massive and their gravity so intense that nothing — not even light or Harry Houdini — can escape the clutches of their immense gravity. When I first heard about black holes, I got that funny feeling called déjà vu. This is because I thought that they were describing my wife’s purse. If women are an enigma wrapped in a mystery, then their purses fall into the realm of the unknowable. As any married ...

Confronting a loved one with an eating disorder

January 16, 2026

Dear Annie: My husband confided to me that his mother had an eating disorder in the past, and there are possible signs she may have relapsed. When she visits us, she will exercise for hours daily, regularly disparage her physical appearance and skip meals claiming that she is “too bloated” to eat. I’m never sure what is the best way to respond to her self-criticism or behaviors. My husband states that she saw a therapist years ago for this problem but has not received any treatment since. He thinks she would be resistant to any further treatment, but I can’t figure out ...

Limiting how we are treated

January 14, 2026

What are our personal rules that determine how we want other people to interact with us, and to treat us? What are the boundaries that we expect other people to recognize, accept, and respect? We all have those personal rules but we do not always think about them or put them into words. These rules are a big part of who we are, and they determine what we want and expect from other people. They determine what we will accept and tolerate from the people we encounter in our life. We tend to react when the boundaries we set are violated. There are also internal boundaries, or rules, ...

Passing on chance of glory

January 13, 2026

I recently stopped at the post office to mail a few packets. This is something that would normally take only a few minutes, but it consumed nearly half an hour and caused my wife to suffer some undue alarm. It wasn’t the post office’s fault. As I approached its exit, a vaguely familiar face hovered before me. It took a moment for the memory synapses to click. “Mr. Schrader?” I asked. “Is that you?” It was. Mel Schrader taught science class when I was in seventh grade. We chatted amiably for several minutes when a particular memory percolated up. “I remember in ...