Viewpoints

To the Editor:

To the community:

Christmas and New Years are wonderful occasions to celebrate. However, it is also a time for over indulging on food and beverage.

Too many cookies and too much fudge, pie and punch? Too much sitting at gatherings or watching bowl games? Need to get out of the house and beat the winter blues?

The solution lies at the Waukon Wellness Center. It is a wonderful facility to help us get moving again. One can pedal a bike, walk on a treadmill, or bring a friend to walk the track with you.

There is something for everyone!  When you have completed your exercise you can take advantage of the coffee corner and socialize.

The Wellness Center not only offers a chance to exercise but also come together for socialization.

Waukon is so fortunate to have this wonderful facility so I hope you give it a try.

Suzanne Hahn
Waukon
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that sometimes, placing a question in an entirely different context seems to help understanding.

As I am writing this early the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 19, television stations are breathlessly covering the on-going casting of votes by members of the Electoral College. All of them are assuring us that President-elect Donald Tmmp will get almost all of the votes he won in the various states, and thus officially be elected president.

But the role of the Electoral College still seems to be widely misunderstood, or if understood, resented by a number of persons. Some of the protestors apparently are young and so lack a frame of reference. Others are rabid supporters who feel robbed by the defeat of the election’s early odds-on favorite Hillary Clinton. And others are confirmed leftists for whom the entire United States election method is suspect.

Luke 2 – …to you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord…

There are no monuments to mark the place where Jesus was born. No plaques in Nazareth where Jesus was raised! By the river Jordan and on the hillside where he taught, there are no historical markers to note the events. Jesus would not even allow a marker to be placed where he was transfigured before Elijah and Moses and his close friends. There is no permanent cross that marks the hill of Golgatha, there is no tombstone anywhere.

To the Editor:

I am responding to the editorial of November 30 written by Benjamin Ross of Waukon.

Mr. Ross started his editorial suggesting that we should accept the results of the presidential election and move on. Then he launches a diatribe that has little basis in fact, but is long on opinion.

To the Editor:

In response to Mr. Quandahl’s letter entitled “Pray with great concern for our country” (The Standard December 14, 2016), I would like to start by expressing my appreciation for your insightful letters. I read regularly and find your values very important to our great community, state and nation.

I would like you to rethink the one position I respectfully disagree with, that of the felon’s right to vote. Being of strong belief of the Word of God, I ask for forgiveness each day and look to repent for all my shortcomings. I may be unable to gain citizens’ rights in the state of Iowa; I do pray, however, that God has seen my heart and repentance is acceptable to him.

Thank you and Blessed Holidays to all.

Josh Burke
West Union
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that this column is due to be printed Dec. 21, which is listed as the first day of winter. In my opinion, winter arrived about three weeks ago!

My grandmother had a saying to the effect that if you see one crow alone, no snow was due. More crows, more snow, she said. The day before the Dec. 10-11 snowstorm, I counted 14 crows in a mid-afternoon murder.

So that adage, this time, worked.

I hope another one won’t: As the days get longer, the cold gets stronger.

There was a letter to the editor in one of today’s dailies, noting that after Pearl Harbor Dec. 7,1941, Japan and Germany were our enemies. But today, they are as close as friends can be among nations. The writer wondered who among our enemies today might be friends 75 years from now?

We all have our favorite Christmas songs, songs we want to make sure to hear during Advent and Christmastime. My favorite Christmas hymn is What Child is This? I love it for the quiet, meditative tune it is set to, Greensleeves. The music could be described as haunting, I certainly find it sets me in a reflective mood. But of course it’s the marriage of the tune with the lyrics that makes it a favorite of mine.

To the Editor:

Many of your readers are likely familiar with Holiday Lights Magical Nights, the lights display at Decorah Pulpit Rock Campground, benefiting Helping Services for Youth & Families. It’s easy to see the bright lights and displays but forget about why the event exists.

I was reminded of this when a young child visiting the Lights told Santa Claus that all he wanted for Christmas was for his family to be happy. Sometimes it takes a child to remind us of what is most important during the holidays.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I have been fixated by rodents in recent days, some amusing, some annoying.

Before the weekend snowstorm, each day was characterized by frenzied activities of squirrels in my neighborhood. And there are lots of them.

There was an abundance of walnuts this year, and so there is an abundance of squirrels. I remember when a teacher noted that a squirrel is of the same family as the rat, and since I had no appetite for rat meat, I was forced to absorb the fact that we were shooting and eating lots of squirrels each fall, and even canned them for winter’s use. But I would not have considered eating a rat!

On a snowy, December 4 Sunday when we didn’t have a lot of people brave the slick streets and roads for the 10 a.m. Mass, we did have a wonderful musical introduction: the Waukon High School choral singers sang beautifully.

On a day when I am sure plans were complicated by the snow, the students and the parents accompanying them gave us a special treat for the Advent season. Thanks to the students, their director Sarah Palmer, and all the people who made this possible.  What a nice tradition for our area churches!

Fr. Mark Osterhaus
St. Patrick Catholic Church, Waukon