Columns

Part Two ELLEN MORTENSEN Last week we reviewed the Callaway Village Board special meeting held on Aug. 17, in which community members were invited to share their thoughts and inputs with the board and Pool Committee regarding a proposed bond resolution.

I was listening to Carson Tueller share his story about being a quadriplegic on a podcast when one line hit me like an arrow that embedded itself into my thinking. Even if removed like an arrow would need to be, this one line has permanently left a mark.

Those of us who were part of the Baby Boom generation, now in our 60s and 70s, no longer recognize the nation in which we grew up. We are strangers in a land that gets stranger by the day.

Saturday was a memorable day and while in hindsight I am finally able to smile, the moment the lights went out I was a hot mess, literally and figuratively. But perhaps we’d better set the scene.

After reading about the proposed swimming pool in Callaway, I regretted not attending the open house. I was surprised at how far down the road the Village Board is on this proposal. The price tag was shocking. The Board estimated the Callaway taxpayer cost at $73 per month on a $100,000 property. Since the median listing for a home in Callaway is $132,500, a more realistic monthly cost might be $100 per month. Assuming that a fairly high percentage of residents have $100 of discretionary spending money per month, the cost doesn’t seem out of reach. But let’s just think about how discretionary money is spent now. Maybe these people eat out at one of our restaurants once in a while, or go to Henry’s for a draft. They might use some of it to help support the VFD, the American Legion, their church or any number of worthwhile causes. Any or all of them could go wanting.

Roxanne Converse-Whiting I get into trouble almost any time someone sees how many apps I have open on my phone. Typically, it is accompanied with the reminder that closing apps saves the battery.

BARB BIERMAN BATIE, LOCAL CORRESPONDENT As the pandemic descended upon us in 2020, a popular buzzword entered our vernacular. The word “pivot” took on a whole new meaning and for those of us in ag country, it certainly wasn’t referring to a center pivot irrigation system.

Dear Abby, A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid-twenties.

One late summer day, fresh out of residency and seeing patients for the first time as a full-fledged family physician, I examined a young man who had a fever, fatigue, and a bad headache. Considering the time of year, influenza was low on the list of possibilities, and COVID-19 did not yet exist. After a physical exam and listening to his story, I ordered some tests, which resulted in a diagnosis of West Nile virus.

Lindsay Lohan might have made “mean girls” a well-used descriptor in 2004, but people have been experiencing meanness in junior high or high school for decades. When one feels the social pull to fit in with the crowd or to exclude someone who is not like them, she might refer to it iconicly as being in junior high again.