Free Republic

It was a torridly hot summer in Nebraska that August, when I received the last letter from my mother. I was in Lincoln, about to become a sophomore in college. We wrote each other frequently, pretty close to nearly every day. The other siblings had it much easier, as they could just pick up a telephone and chitchat with her, a means not available to me. I had just moved, into a "party house" with six other college classmates, and she had not yet gotten my new address, and so sent the letter to the place where I worked, receiving...

Ever since reading the years-long trials and tribulations of Nebraska's greatest writer, Mari Sandoz (ca. 1893-1967), who could never sell her stories the the eastern establishment elitist publishing houses because they feared her "Nebraska Sandhills English" was too alien, I've sort of been wondering if Nebraska Sandhills English is, really, any different from Florida English or New Jersey English or Montana English or Long Island English. Of course, being deaf, I have a different perspective on language, than do hearing people. One is free to disagree with me, but I'm not coming up with any significant differences. I'll bet even...

Earth, wind & fire CHADRON (AP) -- A number of homes sustained damage Friday night as a wildfire burned across the south side of this Panhandle community. “I can’t tell you the amount, but it is clear it’s significant,” said Aaron Sanderford, a spokesman for Gov. Dave Heineman. There have been no reports of injuries, Sanderford said. Conditions deteriorated rapidly in this town of 5,600 on a day when as many as five wildfires, fueled by temperatures in the 100s and low humidity, charred portions of three counties in northwestern Nebraska. While the majority of the damage was sustained from...