“Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I’ll kiss you for it. To go wrong in your own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.” – […]
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Posted inDes Moines
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: The age of a heart
“Everyone is the age of their heart.” – Guatemalan Proverb This is probably true. Or maybe I just hope it is. I’ve seen a lot of evidence that it might […]
Posted inArts
Feel Good Friday: Happy With This
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are thrilled to announce the return of writer Dave Markwell and his beloved column “Feel Good Friday“ to The Waterland Blog. Dave’s thoughtful, heartfelt, and often humorous reflections on life […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Good advice.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “It is a little embarrassing that, after forty-five years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: A day.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “We are born in one day, we die in one day, we can change in one day, And we can fall in love […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News
Feel Good Friday: It was you.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell I wrote a love note the other day: It was you with the easy smile and lovely eyes. It was you – capable […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: A sunset.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Crowded air.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Following a 3-2 cribbage game victory over my good buddy, and a 4-5 loss on vodka tonics, I write my words. Arriving home […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Shoeless.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different.” – Kurt Vonnegut Ha! I […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Way-finding.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell In the soft, pink light of another early morning, I see my usual things. I see a big mountain with a small cloud […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Steel drums.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “I am full of mistakes and imperfections and therefore, I am real.” – Shaun Hicks I found this quote last night while mining […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: One
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “A drop of ink may make a million think.” – Lord Byron Or one. Aim for the one – maybe there are a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Well-chosen.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell I spent some time last night with a Des Moines guy. We chatted and laughed and drank beer in the sun. Shallow and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Dock ramps.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Following my daily walk around the marina yesterday, I sat on a bench and thought things and felt things. I looked at boats. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Connected.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell A few months ago, I listened to a podcast about a guy who ran around the world thanking “every” person involved in making […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Ocean breathing.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell I recently did a guided meditation titled, “Ocean breathing”. It was lovely. As my breath rose and sank as adrift in a warm […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Pets.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell As a beautiful sunrise begins to peek over the mountains and the pale sky shifts into the rich blue it will carry all […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Little-big things.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Mini-pancakes.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Arriving home yesterday after work, I performed my daily ritual of popping by my 17-year old daughter’s room to say “hello”, and ask […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Environment
Feel Good Friday: Dirt.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell I’m a child of the earth. I’ve spent more time with dirt under my fingernails than not. I’ve dug and planted and swam […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Conversations.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Following my afternoon walk yesterday, I sat on a bench in my marina thinking and writing. While in thought, a shadow stopped in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Angles.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Yoga night.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Last night I showed up for a yoga class. Some buddies of mine talked an instructor into a semi-private class and last night […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: A fine place.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Cruising through our little town this afternoon, I enjoyed the window down and the bright sun on my face. Apparently, I wasn’t alone […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Interesting people.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell About 100 yards into my daily three-mile exercise path, I got sidetracked. Approaching the marina’s coffee/wine/brew stop, the Quarterdeck, I saw some people […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Ghosts.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Stewards.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell A couple of days ago, we were blessed with a nice, late winter day. The sun came out and actually felt warm. The […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Health & Wellness
Feel Good Friday: Being change.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Each night, I sit in my black chair at my home on North Hill and look across Des Moines. I see traffic lights […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
Feel Good Friday: Old and New.
Photo credit: Robin Malmanger By Dave Markwell Well, what’s old is new again. The world is a strange and wonderful place. Following a strange and sometimes not-so-wonderful year, a time […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: Decade
By Dave Markwell Last weekend, my kids and I drove out of town to visit my mom for a little belated Christmas celebration. The weird midweek holiday schedule made our […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Health & Wellness
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: Sandwiches.
By Dave Markwell As I begin shaking the dust from the page and attempt to produce words more regularly again, I’m finding some interesting things. Last week, I had a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Des Moines News, Entertainment
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: Bookshelf.
By Dave Markwell “A boat passes in front of the sun’s reflection on the water. Inside the boat are people close to each other. In a different life, I was […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines, Entertainment
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: Death of Leaves.
By Dave Markwell Autumn is a fickle time. It is a time of the frenetic energy of kids going back to school dancing in concert with the languid dimming of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Des Moines News, Entertainment, Politics
FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: ‘The Legacies of Thelma and Louise.’
By Dave Markwell Last night I attended a grand event. It was a retirement party for two of Des Moines finest gals, Sue Padden and Patrice Thorell. For twenty-plus years, […]
