My grandfather, Claude Despain, was considered one of the best dryland farmers in the White Mountains. He always had a good crop of beans and corn, though he depended mainly on rainfall during the monsoon seasons of Arizona, which at times were more abundant than others.

Two seasons in my life I have dreaded the coming of Mother’s Day. Once when I was single and now that my mother has passed on.

It is easy to sit in our cozy comfort zones and play the blame game. When we see homeless people on the street in their ragged, dirty appearance, it is easy to say, “If they had made different choices, they would not be in such a predicament.

Our children are fed a fiery menu of confusion every day. They wake up in the morning to hear the chatter of violence, yet they are supposed to be kind to their peers. They see adults cheer their favorite hero as he obliterates his enemy in a grand explosion that takes out half the city.

During the first part of the pandemic of 2020, I read a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. It had such an impact on my thinking I read it twice. His books asserts that you do not change by setting goals but by the daily rituals we perform consistently.

There are many, many voices crying out in our world today, telling us which way we should go. These voices come from our schools, universities, governments and news sources, as well as many other places.

The pandemic of the decade is not COVID-19. It is double-mindedness. Our nation has become a society of people who can cross their fingers behind their backs and tell bold-faced lies for political expediency, and then in another setting deny they made the comment if it is problematic to their careers.

I don’t know about you, but I am getting fed up with the political war that never ends. I am not referring to the endless foreign wars where brave soldiers give their lives to keep a commitment to America.