A River Of Words, Words About Rivers

by Kevin Burton    Residents of one Alaska neighborhood in my newspaper’s coverage area sought to correct a flooding problem by putting rocks in a river.    Riprap, they called it, which is, as I would learn, “a foundation or sustaining wall of stones or chunks of concrete thrown together without order.”    From that …

Hard Lessons In Death And Unforgiveness

by Kevin Burton     This bit of Burton family lore started small, sprung up unexpected.    We had a maid named Mrs. Long. This was before the basement at my father’s house in Yellow Springs, Ohio  was finished, when you could still practice hockey on roller skates and shoot a plastic puck into a 4-by-6 …

Happy Names For Our Feathered Friends

by Kevin Burton    I recall in certain mornings at the Ohio State School for the Blind, listening to birds singing, in the moments before I had to get up and get the day started.    I would think that if I could endure a few easy classes, I would then have the rest of …

The Bright Side, Friend, Is Exceedingly Bright

by Kevin Burton    “Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them,” writes Alistair Begg in a recent Truth For Life e-mail.    If you, like me, could easily substitute your name …

My Ohio Roots And “Hang On Sloopy”

by Kevin Burton    The shirt I had just bought said “Sweet Home Kansas’ or “Down Home in Kansas,” something like that, and it was supposed to make a statement.    With decidedly mixed emotions I had just taken a job in Kansas and left my homeland, Ohio, behind. The shirt was one way of …

OK Then, Let’s Get This Word Party Started!

by Kevin Burton    I believe it was the great Marty Brennaman, on the Cincinnati Reds radio network, who used to call the first game of a three-game series the “lid-lifter.”     Let’s tack that one on, at the very beginning mind you, like the first pitch in the top of the first inning, to …

Regional Speech Patterns Travel With You

by Kevin Burton    One fine morning in a restaurant we don’t often go to, in a small town where you better not speed or they’ll fine you for sure (Derby, Kansas), a waitress referred to my wife and I as “yins.”    That is a contraction of “you ones” and it’s a regionalism from …

Glory In My Accidental Hockey Championship

by Kevin Burton    I am …the KING…of fantasy hockey. This was confirmed Saturday, though I never had a doubt.    Genius?  Well I’m not going there. Some will say yes, others no. But this is something many will want to emulate, for sure.    I’m not trying to make other players feel bad, or …

Please Help Support Baseball For Blind Players

by Kevin Burton    In five-plus years I have never asked you readers for anything on Page 7, except for your attention and maybe to suspend disbelief a time or two.    Today’s post is a little different. So what’s gotten into me today? Why am I asking for your help?    Well, you could …

There Is A Method To My March Madness

by Kevin Burton    I can’t imagine a scenario where I am completely immune to the madness.    While you and your office mates filled out brackets last week, that was only a fleeting thought for me. Didn’t come close to working up the enthusiasm. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be found on the …