In last week’s “Ramblings” fellow Citizen columnist Jim Matthews, writing about the water situation in Flint, Michigan, stresses “Let us not be deceived. With enough selfishness and neglect, what happened in Flint, can happen anywhere – even here.” True that. Things often go awry when we take things for granted. Such as when we drop cubes in our glass from […]

When I was young, I dreamed of a river. A river as clear and cool as ice-water, reflecting blue as a bright summer sky, white sandy bottom for barefoot toes and current carrying me along in a lazy effortless drift. And when I dreamed, I dreamed it was the Broward River, right behind my house, the first in this series […]

Our regular feature writer, Scott Hays, is taking a much, much-deserved break from writing, so in lieu of our regular column this week, we present an end-of-the-year interview with Mr. Hays as part of our continuing “Great River Writers” series. Interviewer: First of all, we’d like to say thanks for taking time from your busy holiday schedule to interview with […]

Along the banks of the Sangamon River stand two trees: a small but strong holly and an impressive, spreading white oak. They stand as a living reminder of a story that happened a long time ago along the banks of this very river…. A long, long time ago on the banks of the Sangamon River, there reigned two kings: The […]

Rivers of my youth, pt. 3, the Suwannee Chances are, you know something of this, the third “river of my youth”. I mean, how many other rivers can you immediately name after hearing the first few notes of a song? Try it: Day Da-da Dum-dee-Dum Dee da-da! These notes are so iconic that even the sign where I-75 crosses the […]