MY SUN DAY NEWS
August 26, 2010
Step 1: Finally make time to change the faucet (a few hours should do it).
There’s a growing unrest in me about the poor quality of commercial goods these days, specifically home furnishings. I grew up with a mother who had a bend for antique furniture and a father who is a woodworker, so perhaps I’ve been spoiled by things made of wood. What I consider “real” furniture.
July is National Eye Injury Prevention month, and it’s good practice to keep your eyes safe, whether by eating foods known to maintain healthy eyes or wearing sunglasses in order to reduce your chances of developing cataracts from UV damage. But as my wife and I learned, it’s even better to practice prudence when selecting an eye care physician, who is paid to go poking around inside your eyes. (If that’s not reason enough, I don’t know what is.)
I think that if you can teach someone one thing that they will remember for life, you’ve done a good job. And I think teachers know this better than anyone. Teachers like TR Kerth of N. 17, who is featured in this edition of the Sun Day along with his band Old’s Cool.
I’m 32 years old, just turned it on June 9, and I have to admit, I have a hard time keeping up with most of the residents in Sun City, despite that I am approximately 23 years younger than the age requirement for living here.
For those of you who have not seen or met me, here’s a general description: I’m roughly 6’2” and weigh about 150 lbs., which makes me, as many people like to say, a “rail” or “bean pole.” I look at a rack of dumbbells and think, “My gosh, those are just too heavy.”
In January of 1995, nearly 30 years after he was relieved of duty, my uncle Johnny became a casualty of the Vietnam War when he suffered a massive heart attack after years of prolonged heart complications due to his exposure to Agent Orange. He was 47. He was newly married and a stepfather to three young children that he loved as his own.
I’ll admit that in writing, my heart first belongs to fiction. I am a constant reader and writer of the form. I love journalism too, and I’m deeply in love with newspapers as a whole (the feel, the look, the concept and history). But journalism is a craft with strict parameters, making it less free than the art of fiction writing, but no less rewarding when it is done well.
The best way I can describe the editorial process (in fact, the entire production) of the Sun Day, from my perspective right now, is what outer space looks like to James T. Kirk through the windows of the USS Enterprise when moving at warp speed.
