... For the next seven days, I sang “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” approximately 754 times, along with “Hail, Hail to Michigan,” “On Wisconsin,” “My Sigma Nu,” and the rest of the odd assortment of songs whose lyrics are permanently emblazoned in my otherwise forgetful brain....
To whom was Molly singing? And, why? See her Inkspots colunn in the Oct. 29 Kossuth County Advance.

While driving through Humboldt last week, out of the corner of my eye I saw the temperature on an electronic sign. It said -197○ F. I blinked and then peered through my rearview mirror to look at it again. It did say -197○ F. How strange I thought and then, “Yep, it’s 2020.” As I thought more, seeing that sign recording -197○ Fahrenheit seemed surreal which is exactly how this year has felt. 

... Let us look at what the characters, and what the soils represent in this parable. The sower is God. The seed is the Word, the Bible. The different soils are people. You and I, and everyone in this world. So back to my original question; “Are you good soil?  ....
Read more of the Rev. Madison's Families of Faith entry in the Oct. 22 Kossuth County Advance.

... If I moved over to pass, I would see headlights a mile back in my rear view mirror flashing as if to say: “Get out of my way, I’m coming through.” ...
Read more about Jim and Marsha's adventure in the Oct. 22 Kossuth County Advance.
 

Take it from them, COVID is for real
To the Editor:
After some nudging from many friends, I have decided to write this letter to explain the journey that Ken and I have been on for over a month. 

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter our lives, but as time passes and more knowledge becomes available about how the virus is transmitted and how people are affected, efforts toward normalcy continue. Schools have reopened, sports events are happening, and more business establishments are finding ways to provide services to their customers.

Will the adults wind up in charge at the University of Northern Iowa? Last week, the UNI Student Government voted against granting formal recognition to a UNI chapter of Students for Life, a pro-life organization that exists on some other college campuses. The UNI Student Government labeled the organization a “hate group” with “opinions that get people killed.” It’s likely the UNI administration is going to step in and address the matter, but it has yet to do so.

... Physical sickness is only one kind of aliment. There is also mental sickness. It seems like every year more and more people are diagnosed with anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and substance abuse disorders and I could go on. However, the Bible points to a much greater sickness at the heart of humanity, and it is a spiritual sickness. Everyone is afflicted by this disease and we are powerless against it on our own. But there is hope.

...“Are you a racist?” was the immediate response to the question. Last week, I watched for a bit as my wife painted a storm door. It has some grooves and corners. She decided her roller was too big and that she needed a narrower one to really do it right. Painting with a wide roller or brush can get all of us into trouble. We stain that which doesn’t deserve it in our haste...
Read Brad Hicks' On the Side in the Oct. 15 Kossuth County Advance.
 

For someone who has pretty much retired from cooking, I get an urge once in a blue moon to come out of retirement and make something tasty. Okay, to be honest, I never was much of a cook and I never especially liked doing it, so you can understand why, after years of feeding seven people - we had five children, in case you’re just tuning in to this column - turning in my chef’s hat was a cause for celebration.

... How we explain communion to ourselves and each other is very often different, and the rituals we bring to communion worship are as different as the communion cups on my bookshelf. We are not defined by our differences, but by what we have in common as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the Universal Church.  ...
Read all of the Rev. Steve Nofel's Families of Faith column in the Oct. 8 Advance.

... This is National Newspaper Week, designated by Congress decades ago to spotlight the important role newspapers play in providing news and information to citizens.
Newspapers have been around a long time. There is no guarantee that will ever be so. Over the past two decades, a third of the nation’s newspapers have slipped away. Most were very small, but some have been very large. It’s not so much that people quit reading newspapers, it’s that retailing changed. ....
 

... Recently we identified a safety issue that resulted in a change that will impact members of our community who use sharps for their medical care. Effective immediately, Kossuth Regional Health Center will no longer accept used sharps for disposal.  ...
See all of Dar Elbert's "Our Kossuth County" entry in the Oct. 8 Kossuth County Advance.
 

...It is easy to think that a castle is a castle, but each one we saw was as different as their locations and topography, kings involved in their construction and who designed them. 

... t the empty bins were more prone to storm damage was that they were empty in preparation for the upcoming harvest. Had they been full of grain, the presence of the grain would have provided support and stability to the bin’s walls as they were subjected to the powerful winds. ...
Read about the Rev. Walt Reemtstma's take on the Holy Spirit in the Oct. 1 Kossuth County Advance.