If the name Forrest Fenn rings a bell, it’s likely not because of his service to the United States, even though he received a silver star for his role as a combat pilot in the Vietnam War. Flying 328 missions in 365 days is quite impressive. But few know him…
A couple of weeks after returning from our trip to the Southwest, visiting Zion National Park and more, I came across a YouTube video of a guy hiking a remote trail in Zion. It intrigued me because I hadn’t seen that particular trail before, so I settled in for a…
If you missed the first two installments, it might be worthwhile to go back and read them to catch the drift of this little series: Part One Part Two. We hadn’t planned a visit to the Valley of Fire. Fact is, I’d never heard of it until a friend recommended…
If you missed part 1, I’d encourage you to read it first. On a recent trip to the Southwest, my wife and I were repeatedly overwhelmed by a beauty wholly foreign to our corner of the world. Part One shares some of our beauty encounters in Zion National Park in…
This post may seem like a mere travelogue. Sorry about that, but it’s going somewhere (no pun intended), though it will take a couple of posts to get there. Hope you’ll go along for the journey. Our first visit to the American southwest—about seven years ago—left us unimpressed overall. We…
As a boy growing up in the 60s, like a whole bunch of us in that era, I was fascinated with the space program. Anything NASA was doing captured my attention and imagination. Of course, I wanted to be an astronaut, or an FBI agent. But mostly an astronaut. So…
I have always lived “in town.” Never in a big city, but in towns with population ranging from 1,700 to 20,000. Because of that, my exposure to the farm and farm animals has been quite limited. In-town parents need to be intentional about getting their children exposed to the farm,…
At long last, Spring has sprung, not only on the calendar, but in our western Illinois weather as well. What better way to celebrate the vernal equinox than get outside on a bright sunny day with temps in the mid-50s? Since Saturday afternoon was free and the rest of the…
Our second granddaughter, the fourth grandchild, came into the world one week ago today, arriving on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Apparently, she wasn’t too eager to get here—was supposed to show up a week earlier. But as we all know, babies tend to arrive when they’re ready. As every grandparent…
About a half-mile from our house, at the south end of our street, the city has built a nice recreation path running along the Rock River, through Sinnissippi Park, and ending at Hoover Park. It’s a great path for a Saturday afternoon walk. We took advantage of the milder late-winter…
