My wife loves to go antiquing. Whenever we’re on a trip somewhere, and we’ve got some extra time, she loves to search out antique stores and spend time looking at old treasures. She loves walking up and down aisles of oak furniture, knick-knacks, kitchen gadgets and utensils. She doesn’t always buy stuff. In fact, most…
A friend knocked on my office door last week, and as he entered to greet me, he said “I was browsing around in a used book store yesterday and saw this. I thought you might like it.” He handed me a small, thin book. It’s cover had been yellowed by the passing of time, its…
I like to imagine myself as an observer of human beings, and by association, an observer of human behavior. Most of us, I think, are creatures of habit. Much of life is comprised of repetitious activities like going to work, Monday through Friday. Or, standing in line at the grocery store waiting to tell the…
I love our neighbors. They’re the kind of people who would do anything for you. We wave at each other as we pass on our street. When we see each other in our yards, we chat across our fence about life, and how things are going. Their kids are about the same age as our…
I will tell you a true story that you may have a difficult time even imagining. It’s a story about me, and because it’s about me, There is a certain risk involved in the telling. (But, then, there’s always a certain risk in any kind of telling of story, I suppose.) For, the telling of…
If someone were to ask you about the principles that govern your life, how would you answer? One dictionary defines ‘principles’ as “fundamental truths or propositions that serve as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” In other words, principles represent the line of thinking that we…
My dad was a carpenter. In fact, I come from a long line of carpenters. One of my brothers was a carpenter for many years, before he retired, and even taught carpentry to young apprentices. One of my grandpas was a carpenter, too. I grew up around guys who were able to build things, use…
You may have noticed. Life is full of unexpected things. In fact, over the years I’ve noticed that a lot of the things I fully expect to happen don’t happen because something I didn’t expect to happen … happened. It’s been a couple of years ago, now, that my wife and I went…
I’m Ken Jones, and this is A Classic State of Mind, with a Word about … Satisfaction. ONE OF THE THINGS I got for my birthday this year was a really cool gadget that helps me stay organized. Among the packaging and materials included with that gadget was a guarantee. But it wasn’t just…
I recently read a piece that was published in an old edition of the Springfield Oregon Public Schools newsletter. It was a word picture or parable that caused me to pause and reflect on my life today. It went something like this: “Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to…