September already – it’s hard to believe. Why is it as kids we stared at the clock, wishing time would go by faster? Why is it that we could not wait until we were 16 so we could drive a car or, until we were 21 so we could have a beer or emancipate from our parents? And now, as adults, why is it that we barely glance at the clock because we are afraid it’s getting too late and we don’t have enough time? Is it that we are shocked at how fast the months fly by? Is it because we are not excited to reach yet another birthday? It’s just life: As Father Time edges in, life happens and it flies by. On occasion, we are often wishing that we could, in Cher’s words, “Turn back time.” We wish for one more chance to make it different, or better. Well, most likely Margaret Radford is saying that now. Maybe if she had intercepted one more interest group, one more meeting or one more neighborhood, she could have won the primary. As it stands, Douglas Bruce defeated her on Aug. 10.As the publishers of The New Falcon Herald, we are often saying the same thing: I wish I could go back and change it. When you are involved in the newspaper business – writing, publishing, owning – it is like hanging your laundry on the clothesline. Your persona is constantly exposed. “Oh look, honey, Joe next door wears boxer shorts.” “George, that woman’s underwear looks more like a slingshot than something to fit over your derriere.” Yep, in the newspaper business, you are always hanging yourself out to dry. And every so often, you just plain hang yourself.Here’s an example of how we at the NFH hung ourselves, and wish we could “turn back time.” Although we have made mistakes in our composition a few times (we’ve tried to be perfect), we made a mistake in a story placement that infuriated Margaret Radford, and rightfully so. When we featured the profiles on Douglas Bruce and Margaret Radford last month, we placed the article “Jim Day’s perspective” directly below the Radford question-and-answer profile, and did not bold the caption or separate the story. That was the fault of editing, and we apologize to Ms. Radford for our mistake. However, we do not apologize to Ms. Radford or anyone else for the content of our newspapers. Reminder: If you do not like something, please send us an editorial – we welcome everyone’s opinions and thoughts.Anyway, that is the newspaper business, and mistakes will be made (we hope the mistakes are minimal). But we are striving for perfection as we bring you the ninth edition of the NFH. As we interface with people and situations, the only undergarments on our clothesline are thermal, long underwear – the thicker our skin, the better chance of survival. We are “on the line” every time we go out with another edition, so if you have comments about what we hang out to dry, e-mail us at mlmon@att.net.
