As the specter of inflation swirls around us and random supply chain challenges continue to disrupt the status quo, I am reminded of living in Brazil in the 1980s, where inflation ran rampant and supply chain disruptions were a way of life.

Harold Bradley Jr. led a renaissance life: 1950 University of Iowa football MVP, two-time NFL champion with the Cleveland Browns, a promising painter who began winning art prizes in grade school, an actor who appeared in two dozen movies, numerous television shows and plays.

The COVID-19 pandemic, spiraling costs, a growing mental health crisis and a variety of other concerns have raised the debate about the value of the residential college experience.

I have taken the U.S. Postal Service for granted my entire life — that is, until the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election brought a new appreciation for the much maligned institution. The post office is nearly as central to my experience on this planet as is the sun rising each morning; I can’t always see either, but I know that I can depend on both.

Every one of us has things we’ve desperately missed during the pandemic. Very high on my list is experiencing live music. As my excitement builds to see live shows again soon, it also reinforces how much I took live music and its benefits for granted.

Dr. Michael Main is a native Iowan who grew up in Johnston and attended Central College in Pella before going to medical school at the University of Iowa. Today he is a board-certified cardiologist living in Kansas City who practices at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, one of the largest cardiology clinics in the country.

Speeding down the New Jersey turnpike while drinking a double espresso, I felt a sudden thumping in my chest followed by a rapid-fire series of beats; breathing was no longer effortless. When the chaotic beating wouldn’t resolve, I pulled over at a rest stop and took my pulse. It was 150, two and a half times my normal heart rate.

When Dave Gould asked Ashton Kutcher if he was interested in participating in a virtual commencement address, the Iowa native and Hollywood star didn’t hesitate.

The memory of hunting morel mushrooms with my dad in the Iowa woodlands sprouts each spring like daffodils — radiant and precious.

One brisk autumn morning, my daughter and I happened upon a rundown apothecary-looking bookshop in Dublin, Ireland. Slipping through weathered French doors, I was met by a woman smiling at me over readers as she thrust an opened copy of James Joyce’s "Ulysses" into my hands. The tiny shop was crammed with people each holding a book and following along as a gentleman read aloud.

Studies have demonstrated that visiting museums reduce stress and improves one’s mood. MRI studies of people’s brains while looking at paintings also show stimulation in areas of creativity and empathy.

The first thing I do when I come home to Des Moines is drive downtown and circle the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. It has become my ritual.