Uncommon Common Sense

Do you know what I mean if I say the phrase “moral and civic obligation?” It means that someone is bound by an obligation or duty to some ideal or societal group that transcends the individual. Those of you that are parents, you have a moral obligation to raise up your children “in the way they should go, so that when they grow old, they will not depart from it.” You have a civic obligation to raise your children with a firm knowledge and understanding of our country, it’s history, and each person’s role and duties within our society. But I want to challenge ALL of the adults in our family…not just the parents…with one of our “moral and civic obligations”. What is that particular obligation? The upcoming elections. I know…I can hear your collective groans. “I hate election.” “I hate politics.” “I hate political ads.” “They’re all crooks.” “The liberals are destroying our country.” “The conservatives are destroying our country.” Blah, blah, blah, blah…I’ve heard them all. Heck, at on...

I couldn't sleep last night, so was up, sitting in the dark in the living room, pondering the universe. I've been having some conversations over the past month or so with David Funk, who is a candidate for the 3rd Congressional District in Iowa. During one of those conversations, the concept of "flat tax" or "fair tax" came up. We didn't dwell on it much, as we were focused on something else at the time, but this is the concept that came to circle my brain in the wee hours of the morning. Being who I am, I almost always have to ask questions of what is considered the status quo. My usual questions are "why" and "what if". I look at our current tax structure, and I simply have to go to "why?" Why is it so darned convoluted? Why does it seem to penalize a person for working hard and being successful? Why does it seem to be a de-motivator to the person who is motivated, and at the same time, is a de-motivator to the person wh...

Today is December 23rd. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. The day after is Christmas. People are scrambling all over the place buying last-minute Christmas gifts. The Christmas light displays are beautiful, and people are traveling all over the place to spend Christmas with their families. Tonight, our church has a "Christmas Eve-eve" service. Tomorrow night, churches all over the world will be holding Christmas Eve services. What's my point? OK, here's my point: Christmas. Not "holiday", not "winter solstice" not "mass-marketing event", but CHRISTMAS. At this time of year, I CELEBRATE. I celebrate the greatest gift that has ever been given...the gift of God's Salvation, through the birth of His Son. Yes, I've heard them all..."but if you do the math, Jesus was most likely born in the summer, like June or so." Big freakin' deal. Martin Luther King, Jr., was not born on the 3rd Monday of January, yet we celebrate "his d...

Just wanted to do a little promo piece for a friend of mine, Miss Dana Hee. Master Hee is an international motivational speaker, and was 1988 Olympic gold medalist in Taekwondo. She is also an award-winning Hollywood stuntwoman. I could go on for several pages, but I just want to encourage everyone to experience Master Hee for themselves. She has begun to write her own blog, containing inspirational and motivational messages. I'd like to encourage you all to check it out: www.danahee.blogspot.com . Hoping I can post more tomorrow. Up to my eyeballs in alligators today. Today IS Thursday, isn't it? my two cents worth today. :) --Larry Voorhees

OK, so the son-in-law and I went out 2 days, saw lots of tracks, lots of fresh sign, and zero deer. *sigh* I have another go at it with Late Muzzleloader season in late December/early January in southern Iowa, so hopefully will nail something then. Still working on the books. We're up to Chapter 17 in Book 3. My hopes of having the draft done by Thanksgiving simply didn't materialize. With the schedule looking like it does, we'll be lucky to have the draft done by the end of the year. There's at least a dozen more chapters to go, and more likely, closer to 20, before the story in book 3 is completely told. We're also working on Book 4, but that one is going slower. We're taking a new twist in direction on Book 4, so getting both of us to re-gear our minds to wrap around the concepts is taking a bit longer than we originally thought. The rough outlines are done, now it's simply a matter of having enough time for the two of us to sit down and block out the r...

Alright, I have another chance at bagging a deer. Going hunting with my son-in-law this weekend. On the surface, it doesn't sound very promising. He says he's been out several times already, and hasn't seen a thing. Yet, he's convinced that the area we're going to hunt is prime for deer. While I'd really prefer to be able to tag one, I'm also pretty content with just spending some quality time in the woods with the son-in-law. He's a pretty neat guy, and it's some nice bonding time for the two of us. And, my wife gets to hang with my daughter while us guys are out fulfilling our annual blood-lust ritual. So, I see it as a win-win all the way around. :) my two cents worth today. --Larry Voorhees

OK, so I spent an absolutely gorgeous three days in the woods, hunting Bambi and/or his mother. Tons of tracks, lots of fresh sign, well-used trails, some new buck scrapes and rubs...and didn't see a blessed thing all 3 days. Now, granted, it was unseasonably warm, and there was a great deal of hunting pressure in the area we were, but....I didn't see a single deer. You'd think there'd be at least one stupid one out there that would wander into my rifle-sights. Oh well, maybe the Minnesota deer haven't heard of my legendary marksmanship, and I can snag one of them when we go visit my daughter and son-in-law next month. On another note, I did an online interview with a writer/reviewer/blogger based in Ohio, Nikiti Puhalsky. Had some good questions about being a writer, and working with a co-author. Interview should be up on her website ( www.npuhalsky.com ) sometime in the next day or two. Along the writing lines, progress is being made both on Book 3 in the 5...