Body If you have ever spent an extended amount of time hospitalized, or really any time in a hospital at all, there is one thing that you can quickly become an expert on. Jell- O.

Body As I sit down to write this column, my tomatoes have finally met with a hard freeze and the cannas we plant in the local park are giving up their red-topped glory.

Body There’s a game of musical chairs going on at the state capitol, and who gets a chair is in question. Last week, former State Senator Tom Briese of Albion announced his resignation as state treasurer.

Body I recently heard some rumblings that there were some new residents spotted in my neighborhood.

Body Nebraska is cattle country. We used to be known as “The Beef State”—a nickname I always liked.

Body I almost made it. I could have hit the gas and sped through the crossing, but I knew that if I did there was always a chance I didn’t make it in time.

Body There’s an old saying about government: “What is said isn’t so, it’s what is so isn’t said.” So that means that someone—maybe a state auditor, maybe a whistleblower, but often a news reporter— needs to dig in and find out what is really happening with our tax dollars.

Body The Ravenna Volunteer Fire Department could have, possibly, saved my life.

Body Last week, I headed off to camp! I would love to say that my duffle bag was filled with my swim trunks, a flashlight, and all the fixings necessary to make some killer s’mores, but that might paint more of a rosy picture of camp than the one I experienced.

Body None of us like paying taxes. But even the Bible says we’re supposed to (“Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” is how I remember it).