Blog posts by Peter DeHaan, many of which are in his book Woodpecker Wars.
Several years ago, locally, a 16-year-old girl was tragically killed in a house fire—because her parents had her chained to her bed. After they were given appropriately long prison sentences for her death, the father vented to any who would listen. While he admitted a “possible error in judgment” over chaining her to her bed, […]
According to recent figures from the Census Bureau, over 27 percent of children (more than 1 in 4) in the U.S. lived without a father in their home in 2017. That is sad, but even more shocking are the ramifications. Children without fathers are: “The epidemic of fatherlessness causes a strain on young lives and leaves […]
Mohandas Gandhi considered these to be society’s seven deadly social sins: It sure gives one something to think about.
Once, while at a party, I made a new friend. She was pursuing her PhD in Mathematics. Her course work was finished and she was focusing on her dissertation. Interestingly, at one point in my life, I too wanted a PhD in mathematics, but she was the first person I’ve met who was actually doing […]
Summer is officially over (for those north of the equator), lasting from June 21 to September 22 this year. For me, summer effectively covers a slightly different span, starting on Memorial Day and ending on Labor Day, regardless, we must move from summer to fall. Each summer, I have a mental list of things that […]
When Candy and I celebrated the wedding of our daughter, Laura, to our new son, Chris, it was a wonderful day that we had been building up to with increasing anticipation and focus. 1. Are you Nervous? In the weeks and days leading up to the nuptials, I was surprised by the number of people […]
A few years ago lightning struck our house. It seems most of the energy was safely dissipated via a ground wire, as intended. Yet some took a variant path, following along the eave trough and blowing the downspout away from the house, before jumping to an unused underground cable and heading towards our prized maple […]
Several years ago, I realized that a ritual had crept into my morning hair-combing routine. This added activity was inconsequential, not contributing in any way to my final appearance, yet morning after morning, I persisted in this needless habit. It took only a few seconds and eliminating it did not substantially increase my free time […]
When we were first married my bride and I experienced road rage. We were headed home from work, making a detour for groceries. I drove down the area’s busiest street, full of rush hour traffic, and attempted to pull into the left turn lane. Due to various reasons, I made a couple of partial forays […]
A number of years ago my wife and I were witnesses to road rage—and our car was the victim. As the police officer took our statements, he asked if the assailant walked around the front of our car or the back. My bride quickly answered “the front” and just as promptly, I replied “the back.” […]