Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

The cliché says to get ahead you must think outside the box. But is this the best advice? Yes, we must be creative if we want to emerge above the horde. By turning to what you... — Updated 12/9/2022

The year before I was born, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called “The Feeling of Power.” Less than a dozen pages, it’s one of those Asimov stories that he seemed capable... — Updated 10/1/2021

I know a writer who likes to capitalize certain words or phrases, as if they were proper nouns. It’s really none of my business, but I can’t help noticing. He’ll write, “My... — Updated 9/24/2021

I wrote a column a while back about having dinner with old friends. It was a jokey piece about accepting certain limitations of aging, and the headline was “Navigating the last... — Updated 9/17/2021

I was 20 in 1978, a year I would have recalled as pretty unremarkable until I actually looked it up. Stuff happens every year. It was the year of the Camp David accords between... — Updated 9/10/2021

I find myself constantly amazed, having reached the distinguished age of three score and three, by what I don’t know. I know diddly-squat about hockey, for example. I have no... — Updated 9/3/2021

I knew a man briefly, once, so long ago now that I have a vague idea of maybe his age, possibly his height. I can’t imagine his name or anything else, except that I knew him for... — Updated 8/27/2021

My wife and I traveled to Texas last week, which felt like going from the frying pan into the fire, or at least into a slightly different pan. We avoided the wildfire smoke but... — Updated 8/20/2021

Stray memories pop out of my consciousness like gophers, poking up their heads, searching for relevance or possibly six more weeks of winter, and then disappearing back into their... — Updated 8/13/2021

I regularly have long, in-depth conversations with a very bright 7-year-old, illuminating the world as seen through younger eyes. It’s a world filled with Pokémon and... — Updated 8/6/2021

I had the only summer birthday in my extended family, so when late July rolled around it was usually an excuse for a big party. Summer seemed to peak around the time I leveled up... — Updated 7/30/2021

I headed for the river last week, as the river never disappoints. A summer that’s passed without at least a quick trip south to the Columbia is a summer wasted, and it turns out... — Updated 7/23/2021

I’m going to refrain from replaying the old joke, and just state for the record that after 16 months of relentless scrolling, I suspect I’ve reached the end of the internet. Thi... — Updated 7/16/2021

I don't really have any cultural bona fides to offer, but I fully support local journalism and I always think it's a grand idea to pass along any literary wisdom that I stumble... — Updated 7/9/2021

I started to walk outside one day last weekend, just to retrieve something I'd left in the car the night before. As I reached for the doorknob, I hesitated. Going outside had... — Updated 7/6/2021

I was out sitting on my daughter’s porch in Texas a few weeks ago, an experience not unlike eating ice cream too fast. It feels really good until it doesn’t, as the joy of... — Updated 7/6/2021

We’ve been putting out little fires for a few weeks, my community of friends, manageable trauma for the post-pandemic era and not unexpected. Some are desperate to hand out... — Updated 7/6/2021

About 10% of us are different from the rest of humanity in a number of ways. Or, to be a little less obscure, there are a variety of conditions or states that occur in human beings... — Updated 7/6/2021

I keep thinking about lists, although not at all the modern kind, the click-bait listicles about the 14 ways to spice up your spice rack (number 8 will make you hot). No, I'm... — Updated 6/11/2021

Years ago, at one of the many lifetime achievement ceremonies for famous people of a certain age, Elaine May said something interesting about the honoree, her erstwhile comedy... — Updated 5/28/2021

Once every 17 years, much like the cicadas, my daughter takes a hard look at my hair and decides she can do better. This is my theory, anyway. Even before I headed south to Texas... — Updated 5/20/2021

I went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, temperature in the low 60s with a slight breeze, a wildly unwelcome environment for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. A mask stayed in my pocket,... — Updated 5/6/2021 Full story

I'm guessing that the name of Theodore Parker doesn't ring a bell. This is probably because he delivered an historical sermon in 1853 that history tends to ignore. Parker studied... — Updated 4/30/2021

As we began to shut down a year ago, some of us were talking about our upcoming dystopian hellscape. It was all in good fun, as these things are, and we were mostly chatting about... — Updated 4/9/2021

What have you learned? This is always the question, direct or implicit. It’s the theme of every commencement address and more than a few conversations in the principal’s... — Updated 4/1/2021