Time has come to expand family

Written by David Vogel Tuesday, 05 June 2012 15:59

There comes a time for every young couple when—after being “just us” for a time—they find that something in their lives is missing. It’s a need for greater responsibility. A call to reach beyond themselves. A desire to nourish and protect.

And so, like countless other couples before us, we answered the call and got a cat.

(What did you think I was talking about?)

We named our striped orange tabby Simba because—as products of the 1990s and its Disney movies—what else were we supposed to call him?

Simba arrived to us literally minutes after the Tabor College commencement ceremony ended last month, which meant that in addition to socializing at our reception, Hanna and I also had to keep a confused kitten from self...

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10 years later, this column lives on

Written by David Vogel Tuesday, 22 May 2012 15:21

In spring 2002, a 12-year-old walked into his hometown newspaper office, dropped a portfolio of writing samples on the editor’s desk and told the editor that he wanted to write a column.

I’m still not sure why, but the editor said yes, and 10 years ago—on May 22—the Hillsboro Free Press printed the first installment of this column.

It was supposed to run just for the extent of that summer, I’m assuming because the interests of a sixth- going on seventh-grader are likely to change with the seasons.

But here we are a decade later, and I’m finding myself a bit nostalgic.

The headline of the first wobbly crafted column was “Vacation looking busy for new Free Press columnist,” and it went something like this:

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Reflections of a new college grad

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 15 May 2012 14:39

Welcome, friends, family, students, faculty and staff, alumni, members of the board and bored members of the audience.

You’ve all gathered at this football stadium for one reason on this hot and windy Saturday, and that is to honor the hard work of this bunch of students.

No, you’ve really all gathered here for the free food afterward. But we’re doing the ceremony now, and they gave me the microphone.

This day has been 17 years in the making for us. We’ve essayed, hypothesized, calculated, theorized, researched, experimented and dissected our way to these seats. We’ve suffered late nights, early mornings, hot coffee, cold pizza, exhaustive lecture notes and vague study guides. And through it all, this is the moment we’ve...

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Wild hair may signal reverse aging

Written by David Vogel Tuesday, 01 May 2012 15:08

You know how in the “Beverly Hillbillies” theme song ol’ Jed is out shooting for some food, but he shoots the ground instead and accidentally discovers oil?

Well, I know how he must of felt. Sort of. Instead of discovering black gold, I discovered a black hair on my head.

If this doesn’t sound like a miraculous discovery, stop reading this column for just a moment and look at my mug shot. That is a guy whose darkest physical features is his pupils.

I’ve always been a blonde. I’ve weathered the jokes and severe sunburns. Suffering because of my hair color is something I’ve become accustomed to.

And yet, as I was fixing my hair this morning—a process that can take up to 10 seconds—front and center was this jet black...

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