I have decided to break a promise.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the things we Americans are afraid of. Among other things, I said our politicians and others often try to scare us for their own purposes and that I could write more on the subject.

That was a sort of promise, and, since I wrote two more columns on the subject, I have kept it, sort of.

However, I haven’t exhausted the subject. Even though a couple of candidates have dropped out, it still seems as though there is an infinite number of Republican candidates out there trying to spook us, and I haven’t even gotten to the Democrats yet.

Moreover, some of the people running for president are pretty spooky themselves, and the thought that some of them might actually get elected gives me nightmares.

Consequently, the presence of all these spooky candidates trying to spook us means that the promise I sort of made compels me to write more columns on the subject.

However, the election is a long way off. You readers probably don’t want to read about that stuff in every column I write for the next year, and I don’t want to write that way either.

That’s why I’m breaking my promise, sort of. I will keep an eye on the fear situation and write about it when the news inspires it, or even when doing so just tickles my fancy to write about it some Sunday afternoon. Until one of those situations comes, I’ll write about other stuff.

That won’t be hard. We are about to enter the season to be thankful, which will be followed by the season to be jolly, both of which deserve ample attention. And besides, it will be winter, so I can always write about the weather.

For now, though, I’ll just close with a couple of personal notes.

Some of you probably remember reading about my wife’s creation of Halloween costumes specifically requested by our grandchildren. Well, her devotion to grandma duty is still alive, and this year she again devoted uncounted hours to the production of this year’s models.

The almost 9-year-old marine biologist turned into an octopus. The 8-year old zoologist became a blue jay. The 6-year-old ichthyologist/entomologist/ornithologist walked the halls as a sawfish, sometimes known as a carpenter shark, and the 6-year-old lover of song and story took a page from the film “How to Train Your Dragon” and transformed into the Toothless Monster.

Grandma keeps saying she’s going to get out of the costume-making business, and, with my help, keeps suggesting costumes that could come right out of the closet. I’ll believe it only when she doesn’t start fretting about costumes a week or so into next September. She still takes this grandma business seriously, though, and I’m betting that won’t change in the next 10 months. I don’t think I want to win the bet, because I think her fingers are starting to wear out from all that sewing and it’s not as much fun as it used to be.

Finally, I have an observation from the world of sports.

You may have noticed that I expanded my role at the Tribune this fall by taking on coverage of the Powell High School and Northwest College volleyball teams. I didn’t know what to expect, since I haven’t followed NWC sports much during the last three years, and a new coach took over the PHS team, and they had lost a two-time all-stater since last year.

Covering two teams has turned out to be a bit harder than I thought it would, although I overcame the difficulty by engaging a poorly paid assistant, who took time off from costume-making to take notes on the matches while I took pictures.

But I’ve also had a chance to see some of the greatest volleyball I have ever seen played. The Trapper women have amazed me with their athleticism, and I have watched as they have matured and improved their play. They won every match I saw them play, and have been ranked third in the nation for the past several weeks. It has been great fun to watch and write about them.

The Powell Panthers have had their ups and downs, but last Saturday, I was saw one of the greatest efforts I’ve ever watched. The Panthers’ all-out effort to qualify for state by defeating Cody was not only admirable, but inspirational.

Their teamwork was superb as they covered for each other, picked up their teammates after rare mistakes and celebrated each point together. They stepped up every phase of their game a notch or two, receiving, blocking, setting, attacking and even celebrating a point. I believe they did things they didn’t know they could do in their determination to advance to state.

In short, they truly gave it their all, physically, mentally and emotionally, in pursuit of their goal.

Writing about these two groups of young people was a pleasure, and I’m happy I have had the opportunity. It was a lot of fun.