The Superior Express -

Candy Downs, a former Superior resident now living in Florida and working as newspaper advertising salesperson shared the following story with friends Monday evening:

Went to a convenience store this evening and a guy in line in front of me complemented me on my dress. I said, “Thank you.”

He turned back around and asked if it was hot enough out for me today. I said, “Yes. It was brutal out there today.”

Then he said his employer sent him home today to grieve properly because his son died on Friday.

I said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” He said, “My son lived a good life. He wasn’t shot or in an accident, but he bought a joint that ended up being laced with phentanol.”

(Now what’s a person to say ?) I said, “How horrible.”

He said, “Yea. Now I can’t go to work and don’t want to go home to think about it, so I’m going to the pool.”

By then he had checked out and said, “Thanks for listening. You’re a nice lady.”

It was a heartbreaking story that I just had to share because I believe things in life happen for a reason. Maybe someone needs to hear about the danger out there.

—————

There were plenty of National Weather Service warnings and some strange clouds, but I haven’t heard of a lot of damage associated with the cold front that moved through here Saturday. The front brought a welcome temperature drop and opportunities to capture interesting cloud photos.

Opportunities for cloud, sunrise and sunset photos is part of the reason I enjoy living here.

In my early years, I took those opportunities pretty much for granted. I had grown up living on Blauvelt’s Hill which afforded many opportunities to watch what my father called the heavens.

Then in my late 20s went for a Caribbean cruise on a sailing ship. Most the passengers were from Eastern cities and they were fascinated by the sunrises and sunsets. At night the captan switched off the lights and let the passengers recline on the deck and watch the stars. I viewed such activity with a ho-hum attitude for I had seen better night shows here.

But the experience helped me learn to appreciate what we have here.

Hopefully residents of our rural areas are beginning to appreciate our vistas.

Last September the International Dark-Sky Association confirmed that the Nebraska Sandhills have some of the darkest skies on Earth.

The 729-acre Merritt Reservoir located in Nebraska’s big Cherry County now has the state’s first certified International Dark Sky Park.

“The Milky Way is so bright here it casts shadows on the ground!” said Brenda Culbertson, a solar system ambassador, speaking at the 30th annual Nebraska Star Party. More than 380 people attended the star party and set a new attendance record.

Last week I was visiting with a new Superior resident who seemed excited while telling about driving out into the country to see the darkness and observe our nighttime sky.

Our sky here may not be as dark as it is the Cherry County state park but if you pick your spot you can find it is pretty dark in our thinly populated rural areas.

With a blue moon coming up later this month, this may be time to get out in the country and observe a natural light show. But be careful. There is little likelihood of meeting up with Big Foot or a hostile human but our rural roads can be a challenge.

Though we have been in a designated drought area, and we have gotten little rain, Sunday morning I saw water standing on top of a road that lead to my favorite star gazing location.

———————

Thus far I have resisted most of the cell phone craze. I own three smart phones that I sometimes use as cameras, I’ve never had a smartphone with a communications plan. For those not up on the smartphone world, that means I can’t send or receive cell phone communications.

I find my resistance to cell phones weakening and may someday give in to the temptation but then on Tuesday morning a story printed under the headline, “Dumb phones are cool again, caught” my eye.

As I read the headline, I thought of the rotary dial phone that hangs on the wall beside my desk. “Why,” I wondered, would those phones ever come back.

Though I thought I was in a hurry to do something else, I had to read the story.

The writer said phones are smarter than they were in the early 2000s. (I was thinking 1950s). Then he asked, Are people any happier?

The story said studies have found the constant online connection offered by the moden phone may not be conductive to mental health, especially for young people.

The writer concluded “Is it any wonder the Y2K throwback “dumb” phone is making a comeback?

Nokia, the maker of my first cellphone and a company I thought had disappeared, is now selling flip phones by the thousands. The low-priced phones offer long battery life, physical keypads and few features other that calls and texts. The company currently offers five models, none of which have a smartphone touch screen.

The phones were said to be ideal for people who want a simplier lifestyle.

Reading the story made me feel good. I may not be an old foggy stuck in the last century, after all. Hopefully, I’m like the Gen Z folks who are seeking a simpler lifestyle apart from the always connected attention-draining smartphones.

I’ll confess, Rita and I share a flip phone. It has terrific battery life, has never failed to connect when we need it, and though slow will take a picture if needed. We mainly have the phone for when we travel and will not be near a landline. Worst problem we have with it is that we forget to turn it on when leaving home or office. But that may not be so bad. As with it off, nobody can call and disturb us.

The phone supposedly will send a text message but I have never tried, —maybe I am stuck in the last century.