By Jim Nichols It is not a unique story. There were just too many people for everyone to sit at the same table for the holiday big meal. Someone had decided in an earlier year that there would be two tables—one for the adults, and one for the children. I was not consulted concerning this arrangement and I suspect no

By Jim Nichols Every episode started in the same way. The scene was a police squad room in the Hill Street Precinct. Assembled were the officers who apparently were preparing to leave for their shift. The sergeant was at the front of the room speaking to them and bringing them up to date on the most recent criminal activity in

By JIM NICHOLS The door looked directly into the room where the man lay in bed. He was very ill. He was dying and he understood that and did not seem afraid. This had been a long time coming. When asked what he was learning from God during this time of his life, he answered first, “When it is time,

By JIM NICHOLS I am not sure if it is accurate or even true, but it sounds reasonable to me and makes a point that is important. It takes just a little chemistry and biology to talk about it. Atoms are particles of matter that uniquely define a certain element. There are well over one hundred different elements; the four

By JIM NICHOLS It was a busy Saturday afternoon in a city square in Montevideo, Uruguay. I was with a friend among hundreds of other people. My friend is a person who moves easily between the U.S. and Uruguay and has spent much time both places. He said, “See those three young women over there? They are Americans.” I looked

By JIM NICHOLS Writing instructors sometimes say that writing about oneself is not particularly interesting to readers; readers want to read about themselves, not you. That makes sense to me, but I will break that suggestion here and tell you about someone in my life. I justify this because, I suspect, each of you has or had one or more

By JIM NICHOLS While delivering Meals on Wheels, it is not unusual to pick up the newspaper in the yard or ask if I need to check the mailbox. One of the women on my route appreciated receiving the paper, but consistently complained about how small it was becoming. She was right. Like many local newspapers, advertising revenue has fallen

By JIM NICHOLS An academic colleague of mine has been involved in a multi-year research project in a tall grass prairie area of Oklahoma. In 1999 in a localized area, above ground rusty pipes decayed sufficiently to dump their contents onto the land. This was an oil field and some of the spilled material was oil itself and the other

By JIM NICHOLS From 1951 to 2008 one of the best known and most quickly recognized Americans was radio broadcaster Paul Harvey. On national radio his news and comment six days a week is estimated to have reached 24 million listeners every week. Like other popular personalities, he developed some trademark phrases and speaking mannerisms that made him instantly recognizable