Mike Murray's web site -- Berea, Ohio (USA)
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Betty & Seymour
Friends in Need
And Winter Came
Early Christmas
Reason to Believe
Riding in Cars
Mother's Little Helper
But Not Today
Pampered Pets
Endearment
As She Wishes
My Hero, My Wife
Small Things
Still, They Sing
Day's End
Sweet Seymour
Old Friends
A Soft Bed
In Sarah's Arms
A Good Dog
Not One Puff
Love My Dog
Just Do Something
Sparky
Gentle Breeze
Dogs will be Dogs
Open Gates...
She Knows
No Easy Way
No-Kill Issue
Box Fan Blues
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ARCHIVE

32 ft. / sec. / sec. -- "Things are never really as simple as they first appear."

A Good Dog -- Maddie was a good dog; she was also a very good friend.

A Long Way, Baby -- From personal property, to lioness, to gold digger?

And Winter Came -- Enriching an already wonderful Christmas season.

A Soft Bed -- Some animals crave little more than that.

A "Teachable Moment" -- But don't take your lesson from a bigot.

A View from the Center-Right -- An open letter to the GOP.

Aim High -- No one is completely immune to stereotypical thinking.

Against All Enemies -- Choose your Commanders in Chief very carefully.

Albert -- Perhaps Gore should change his name.

All the Way -- "This time, hold nothing back."

An Appalling Silence -- Is Barack Obama truly one of the Children of Light?

As She Wishes -- More things than ever are up to Janna.

Aunt Betty -- She Copes.  She carries on.

Barbaro -- More than merely swift.

Because I Love Her -- Learning to tell Janna "no."

Better Angels -- "I never hesitate when I'm asked, "Whom do you most admire?"

Big John, Diminished -- The Maverick sells out.

Bigotry is Bigotry -- A pretty face cannot mask ugly prejudice.

Blog On -- Robust opportunities for communication are essential to free societies.

Blogger Envy -- "A scribe slurps his suds, searching for a way to impress..."

Box Fan Blues -- "Would nothing go right for me today?"

Bush III vs. Carter II -- Forget about "change"; the 2008 election is all about the past.

But Not Today -- A woman.  A dog.  And a date with destiny.

Cabin Sitter, The -- "...a greenhorn, naive to the ways of this land..."

Cannot Keep From Singing -- Like Enya, they sing.  They uplift.

Certifiable -- "I can hear some of you out there.  See, I told you:  he's nuts!"

Check [t]Hat -- "So I'm righting a peace about gophers the other day..."

Christmas Comes Early -- Thanks to dedicated animal care-givers.

Christmas Comes Early (again) -- Janna dodges another bullet.

Christmas in September -- A dog's arrival was the best present ever.

Christmas Season Essays -- Annually featured essays, from 2004 to present.

Comic Relief -- "Do you remember when Comics were funny?"

Collateral Damage -- Political scoundrels will litter the landscape with victims.

Cool Cat Turns Catty -- Barack Obama's ugly transformation.

Counting Christmases -- Count each one; appreciate each one.

Courage, is it? -- "It sounded so inspiring, Dan, your trademark sign-off..."

Critically Speaking, Freely -- Media bailout would fly in the face of the 1st Amendment.

Day's End -- Nightly reflection yields both comfort and discomfort.

Dear Terri -- "Your time is short; you have been denied food and water..."

Decorum Be Damned -- Democrats are (selectively) concerned with civility.

Discharge Obama?  -- America's Commander-in-Chief is off to a very poor start.

Dogs will be Dogs -- There's just no getting around it.

Earning Their Wings -- "Attaboy, Clarence."

Ensure Election Integrity -- Fraud & disenfranchisement both matter.

Footprints in the Sand -- No one walks completely alone.

Fraidy-Cat Fools -- Bill Maher & other religion-bashers:  hateful, cowardly.

Friends in Need -- Doing what they can -- when it's needed most.

Full Circle -- "As I take in the early morning pleasures..."

Five Years On -- "It was during the summer of 2000 that the furry scamp..."

Gentle Breeze -- Janna at 10:  calmer (and even more precious).

Give Them A Break -- "The road she chooses to tread is definitely less travelled."

Great White Whales -- ... the Ahabs among the media bellow, "Thar she blows!"

Gun's Up -- "Will Track & Field win this race?"

Hurry Up and Wait -- This time, it is we who should keep the pols waiting.

I am Not -- "I am not the things I cannot control."

Ideology Streams -- Media collaboration:  harmless cooperation or dangerous collusion?

In Sarah's Arms -- Be an angel to someone in need.

Inner Voice -- Marching to the beat of your own drummer.

Intelligent Dishonesty (by design) -- Can scientists and theologians coexist?

Irish Eyes -- "How well I remember my father's..."

It's for Them -- Memorial Day is not for you.  It's not for me.

Just Do Something -- Small things can make a world of difference.

Keeping Score, Brother -- Careful, critics:  Big Brother is watching (and listening).

Killing the Golden Goose -- Labor, management, & investors are all to blame.

Legs on Cars -- And other senseless things.

Liberal, White, Female (and Foolish) -- Heed the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller.

Lift Me, Enya -- Lift me over rampant small-mindedness.

Love My Dog -- "As I regained consciousness, I struggled..."

Lowering the Bar -- "Yes We Can" has morphed into "Don't Hold Your Breath."

Marsh Hollow's Mac -- "Roaming the outer reaches of his expansive territory..."

MBA Confessions (1) -- "..never having to say you're sorry for power ties."

MBA Confessions (2) -- "For the right incentive almost anyone will roll over."

Media Meltdown -- "The Fourth Estate isn't what it used to be."

Military Madness -- Problems with America's Armed Forces begin at the top.

More Good than Bad -- Some people sure are.

More Harm Than They Know -- They take something from each one of us.

Mostly Dogs (animal stories) -- Maggie, Janna, Seymour, et al.

Mother's Little Helper -- A brief encounter with a soulful child.

My Hero, My Wife --  "Standing only 5 ft., 1 & 3/4 inches tall, she's..."

My Secret Mistress -- "My lover has a rival with whom she cannot compete."

Nader's Nadir -- Ralph Nader could play spoiler.  Again.

Night Sweats -- From the window, scenes that bewilder.

No Easy Way -- Saying goodbye is always hard.

No Kill vs. Extended Stay -- "In simple terms, who could disagree..."

Nobody's Fool -- Rest in peace, Paul Newman.

Not One Puff -- A mother's death-bed plea.

Nothing Like a Mother -- Captain Penny was right.  Moms are special.

Obama's Crowded Bed -- The price of political prostituion.

Obama's Mob[ster] Mentality -- Team Obama reverts to its Chicago roots.

Obama's Poor SCOTUS Pick -- Sotomayor is a (very) flawed nominee.

Obama the Spiteful -- War with Fox News is ill-advised, doomed to failure.

Obama's War on Dissent -- The president & his supporters seek to silence critics.

Obama, Where Art Thou?  -- Where did the person America elected go?

Old Friends -- No fence will ever again separate Maggie and Murphy.

Open Gates, Broken Hearts -- A moment of carelessness, a lifetime of grief.

Pampered Pets  -- Do animals really have it better than humans?

Perspective -- When it comes to "telling stories," trust caregivers -- not journalists.

Power to the People -- The balance of power is shifting in favor of common folks.

Pretty Prose -- Barack Obama...and the Travels of the Apostle Paul.

Principles -- Are they your pals?

Racial Discourse -- America is ready for an honest conversation.

Reason to Believe -- Faith rooted in logic (and hope).

Riding in Cars -- "Her longing surely dwarfed my own..."

Rights:  Yours and Hers -- "Uh, guys, can we talk?"

Salvation (on a shoestring) -- Small charities accomplish very big things.

Scraping By -- Alleviataing suffering (human & animal) on a shoestring.

Second Best -- "First place is reserved for no one."

Secret Santa, Secret Wish -- My '09 Christmas list has only one item on it.

Seller Beware -- "What goes around sometimes really does come around."

She Knows -- Dogs know plenty.

She's The One -- "It hardly seems possible that twenty years have passed."

Sir Sellout -- "Say it ain't so, Mick."

Small Stuff -- Some is, some ain't.

Small Things -- Large truths are often revealed by them.

Small-town Lessons for Obama -- Things he can't learn in Chicago (or Honolulu).

Socialism (of a sort) -- What the Obama administration is pursuing.

Snowprints -- "...prints that could not have existed the day before."

So Long, Hal -- "...like so many of his readers, I felt I knew him."

Sparky -- "I scream for Little Boy, but he's nowhere in sight..."

Speak for Yourself -- No one has earned the right to speak for a soldier.

Suckered by Obama -- What were Brooks, Parker, Noonan, et al. thinking?

Sweet Seymour -- A day in the life of a homeless cat.

Sympathy Pain -- "Going without water and food is not pleasant."

Take Care of You -- "That just might be...[your] most precious gift."

Terms of Endearment -- An unlikely alliance:  a roughneck Rottweiller and a feral feline.

Thank You, Sarah -- "Whatever had me so worked up...will just have to wait."

The Courage of Their Conviction -- Strong beliefs.  And the guts to stand up for them.

The Way They Were -- A sweet old lady & and a young, homeless cat.

The Wrong One -- The wrong Democrat won in '08.

They Will Remember -- "I believe that recollections of acts of kindness persist."

They're So Sorry -- Politicians love to apologize.  For other people's sins.

This Giving Season -- Almost everyone has something to offer -- and does.

This Healing Season -- "I found solace on runs along deserted wooded trails..."

Ties that Bind -- Are same-sex partnerships marriages, civil unions -- or something else?

Trouble in Paradise -- Nationally and in NE Ohio, Dems are squabbling.

True Enough:  Out of Africa -- Karen Blixen's memoir, lovingly filmed.

Up From What?  -- Pretenders to hardship.

Walkin' the Walk -- Rest in peace, Howard M. Metzenbaum & William F. Buckley, Jr.

What about Bob? -- "We raced for the cure... we went red for women... Isn't it time someone asked..."

What Voters Want -- For many in Ohio's 10th congressional district, it's not Dennis Kucinich.

When Life Begins -- What uncertainty dictates.

When She Goes -- When the wife's out of town, I'm free to do as I please.

White Lies -- Most politicians can't get through a day without them.

Word Games -- For Barack Obama, some words matter; others don't

Copyright © Michael F. Murray       All rights reserved.