Touring a manufacturing plant with a U.S. senator. 

Spending half a day on a tobacco farm with a grower exploring alternative crops. 

Covering a board of education meeting that lasts two hours. 

Covering a county commission or city council meeting that lasts 15 minutes. 

Talking to an upset reader who did not receive his newspaper that morning. 

Getting dressed up and going to a nice Lincoln Day Dinner where a presidential hopeful is giving the keynote speech. 

Arriving on the scene along a remote state highway in the middle of the night where three teenagers died in a horrific collision after playing a game of chicken, trying to stay composed while getting enough information to let the public know what has occurred. 

Spending the night in the newsroom as a hurricane approaches, using flashlights and backup power to keep the community in the know about the conditions as the wind howls and torrential rains come down. 

Waiting out a three-hour executive session where local leaders are meeting behind closed doors just to find out that when they come out of the backroom they quickly dismiss without sharing information that you can, in turn, share with the public to let people know what their local government is doing. 

Going through reams of paper obtained through an open records request so you can tell taxpayers how their money is being spent. 

Spending the weekend covering a festival, a rally and a car show, taking photos and talking to attendees so you can showcase positive things going on in the community. 

Attending a school play, taking short video and a lot of pictures to post in an online gallery. 

Rewriting a bland news release that is full of jargon and flowery language, trying to decipher exactly what it says so you can boil it down for readers. 

Staying up all night, tallying election results, sending out push alerts, calling and interviewing the winners and the losers and having a slice or two of pizza along the way. 

Going to the home of a cancer survivor as she tells her story of strength and courage and then sharing that story to inspire others facing challenges in their own lives. 

Getting up in the middle of the night to cover a raging fire, devastating a downtown business. 

Going from school to school on the first day of classes, talking to first graders and their parents as they share their excitement — and anxiety. 

Talking to residents upset about rezoning in their neighborhood that could result in increased traffic and reduction of property values. 

A day’s work.

A profession. 

A calling. 

It’s never boring. 

Journalism. 

Newspapering. 

Not a bad life.