Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller Challenges come in all shapes and sizes. For a baseball player to bat .400, that’s a challenge. For an executive to earn $892,000, as does the head of Pillsbury, that’s a challenge. Sometimes, challenges go unnoticed that may be just as important to the individual as those that make the headlines. I can think of a few, and I bet you can too. One is the tea challenge , or the Tea Cup , driving to work without spilling your hot coffee, or tea, in my case. This competition has certain ground rules. The cup must he filled to the brim when you leave the house, and it must be boiling in the cup, so that a spill will sear flesh and possibly affect your regenerative future. You must also drive a stick shift. The car must have at least 100,000 miles on it. You must cover at least five miles of gravel road with the full cup, in northern Pine County. Roads closer to the county seat are too well maintained to be part of the Tea Cup . Often, I’m lucky to get out of the driveway befor...

David Heiller   We’ve been to a lot of graduation open houses over the years, but last Sunday’s was the first one we’ve actually put on. I use the word “we” loosely. To say “we” put it on would be like counting a mule as a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I was the mule. I won’t go through the blow by blow of our open house. It would be easier to describe the invasion of Normandy than to describe all the details that went into the open house. I think it started when Noah was born, and Cindy started making lists, mentally at least, 18 years ago. “Let’s see, we’ll have to wash the curtains, and fix the blinds, and build an addition. ” The real lists formed about three months ago. Lists of food to buy and make. Lists of things to borrow. Lists of home improvement projects — big ones! — to do. I can speak with authority on that last item. That hole in the wall in the entryway did need to be fixed. And it had been 10 years since the living room walls were pain...

David Heiller A friend of our family called Monday morning with the urgent news that her son had a serious viral infection and needed to be rushed to Duluth for medical care. She asked if we could look after her four children after school while she and her husband stayed in Duluth at the hospital. Of course, I answered, of course. Three children, and one teenager, we can handle that. My wife called later in the day and told me to pick up a jar of spaghetti sauce. “The biggest one you can find,” she added. “Do you need hamburger?” I asked, trying to hide my excitement. Hamburger in our house is a rare treat, and so is store-bought spaghetti sauce. I say that knowing my wife will understand that it brings back fond memories of my college days, Hamburger Helper and all that. Cindy assured me that she already had plenty of hamburger on hand from our friend’s freezer. After I bought the half-gallon jar of spaghetti sauce, I thought about renting a movie for the kids. But I shook off that n...