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I began a personal journal in 1974, although that first one was stolen from me shortly after I arrived in France. The first entry in the next journal is dated Aug. 27, 1974 in Salisbury, England. After University, it seemed part of being an educated person was to keep a journal the way Samuel Pepys… Read more
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Much has changed since Iowa opened to settlement in 1833 after the Black Hawk War. Some things seem unchanged. The brief period between 1836, when Iowa became part of the Wisconsin Territory, and the platting of the City of Solon in 1840 was a time when people saw a grove of trees and decided to… Read more
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Except for the daily posts here, some journal entries, and some letters to the editor, I don’t have any substantial writing projects going on. I heard back from one of the early readers of my autobiography, A Working Life, and won’t hear from the other until Labor Day. There is nothing to do there for… Read more
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Midsummer is a time to make garden soup. I cleared the kitchen counter and searched the refrigerator for ingredients, then lined everything up in a neat pile to the right of cutting board. I already made vegetable broth from turnip greens, so I got the large pitcher from the door of the refrigerator, along with… Read more
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I wrote about the role Pablo Picasso played in my creative life after seeing the retrospective the New York Museum of Modern Art on June 4, 1980. My creative work takes place in a context of mundane blocks of time into which I divide each day. There have been different iterations of this since reaching… Read more
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In summer the kitchen becomes a studio where I create things to eat incorporating fruit and vegetables from the garden. Experimentation is the rule, with a mind for the palates of both of us. I make a lot of dishes that don’t appear any other time but when the garden is coming in. Tradition is… Read more
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When Mark Divitt voted in the June 2 Democratic primary he noted there was no candidate on his ballot for the Iowa House of Representatives. That led to his decision to run, followed by Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart calling a special nominating convention for House District 91 on July 9. About half of… Read more
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I attended our home owners’ association annual meeting on Tuesday. Since we cut the number of board members back to seven, the positions have been filled, and life here goes on. The quarterly dues have been the same since we moved here in 1993. There is a road repair project going on, although our main… Read more
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As the sun rose behind me on the state park trail, I realized wildflower blooms are reaching peak. I stopped and took it all in. The variety of colors and shapes is visually appealing, even as I’m only beginning to be able to name them all. Yellows, reds, purples and whites, they all come together… Read more
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The Duane Arnold Energy Center was re-licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in December 2010, extending its operating license for 20 years to 2034. After the 2020 derecho damaged the plant, they didn’t reopen, and began the process of de-commissioning with intent to shut down. When a large contract with Google Energy, to purchase… Read more
Tales from the pilgrimage.
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