Opinion

For the first time in living memory, I was the only passenger in a TSA security line at a major airport — Tucson, noon on a Friday, a time you’d expect Arizonans to be heading for Nome or Juneau for a weekend of darkness, but no. I wended back and forth in the maze of barriers and the guy at the conveyor seemed happy to see me. I zipped on through and counted 15 uniformed men and women defending the country against one octogenarian liberal who’s never owned a gun, hasn’t fired an explosive in fifty years and then only a few bottle rockets, and arrived at my gate two hours early, and celebrated by buying a latte at a coffee stand that offers tables and chairs.

For three years running, Beyond Reason has considered the new year’s resolution. A new year’s resolution is just a goal, a commitment, ranging from the very specific (lose ten pounds/only eat a whole food plant-based diet/save $5000) to the very abstract (workout more/eat better/save something). In a vacuum, a new year’s resolution isn’t funny. Luckily, a new year’s resolution, however specific or abstract, involves a human. A human is funny. A human with goals is the gift that keeps on giving.

Are you staying warm? I am having trouble feeling warm enough even though the thermostat is set at 70. I guess I still have air leaks, especially when the wind is blowing 20mph out of the north or northwest. Just put on another sweater, I guess. Then Ma Nature is going to tease us on Wednesday and Thursday by warming up for a couple of days before she plunges us back into the deep freeze on the weekend. I’m sick of winter.

When Chip Carter spoke about his father, Jimmy, at a memorial service in Atlanta and told how, when his dad noticed the boy got a poor mark in Latin, Jimmy studied Latin so that he could teach his son, I recognized a standard of fatherhood a good deal higher than my own and I felt bad for a moment until I recalled that it wasn’t my father’s level of fatherhood either. He was a father of six kids and I recall that when I got a C in math, it was my problem and he didn’t get involved.

As the time draws near the end for my eldest child’s deployment with the Army to the Middle East, we now look forward to a new adventure as he plans for his next move to a new duty station.

Rob Perez This time of year, every trip to the mailbox results in a handful of holiday cards. I mostly like holiday cards. Like a… Login to continue reading Login…

Mother Nature certainly showed us who is in charge once again. Walking the dog in temperatures below zero is a whole new ball game. By Tuesday when we were back in the teens it felt positively balmy. Now if we could get some snow to cover up the fields and junk that didn’t get put away during the long fall.

Judi BohmColumnist Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It has been a tumultuous year, physically and mentally. Let’s home 2025 settles down a little.… Login to continue reading Login…

Rob Perez Most of the year, Beyond Reason steadies its gaze on the present. The here, the now, the au courant. We do this because… Login to continue reading Login…

Jessica StölenEditorjstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com Every so often, I like to scour other newspapers from around the country in rural areas to see what kinds of creativity they… Login to continue reading Login…