State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

  • Back in Business

    It took less time than I thought to pick a new theme and change the look of my blog. Beginning tomorrow, it is back to a normal posting schedule. I re-wrote the about page, which can be accessed here. A new paragraph provides insight into why I named the blog Journey Home: I’ll be 75… Read more

  • Site Renovations Continue

    Redesign of my blog will take a few days. Thanks for visiting and for your patience while I determine what this will look like. Read more

  • To Every Season

    I posted for 190 consecutive days and plan to pause for a while. Several things consumed my energy which needs recharging, something important to sustaining this bloggery. I plan to write more about process, although today I don’t know what to say. A writer has a distinct ecosystem from which words spring. Consideration of that… Read more

  • After the Democratic Primary

    After my 15-hour shift as a poll worker I was too agitated to sleep. I stayed up until I knew the results of the main races I was following, about another 60 minutes after arriving home. These are the main results in which I was interested: The numbers are such that Republicans don’t stand a… Read more

  • A Walk in the Park

    Is reed canary grass an invasive species? The photo above suggests that it is. Thriving along the lake shore, this grass formed a dense monoculture that crowds out other plants, including native species. What once grew here? Reed canary grass has dominated this stretch of shoreline for so long that I can no longer remember… Read more

  • Take Down Of Ashley Hinson’s First Ad

    Republican Representative Ashley Hinson’s first U.S. Senate television ad, “Believe,” makes claims voters should question. She says “veterans deserve a hell of a lot better.” They do. Yet in 2022 she voted against the EVEST Act, which automatically enrolls eligible discharged veterans in VA health care (HR 4673, Roll Call 14). She also opposed the… Read more

  • Week 8 — Using Early Produce

    This spring unfolded early in Big Grove, a reminder of how closely gardeners watch nature. Phenology — the study of recurring seasonal events in plants and animals, such as leaf-out, flowering, migration, and fruit set — is an unfamiliar term that gives meaning to what gardeners do by nature when weather and climate change. Garlic… Read more

  • Newspapers Now

    Not long after the Kennedy assassination, Mother found me a job as a newspaper boy. Before dawn, I rode my bicycle to pick up a bundle of Des Moines Register dailies and deliver them. The homes were spread out because the Register was not our local paper. It was the route that was available. My… Read more

  • AI Deserves The Boos

    I want to say something about artificial intelligence’s intrusion into life. Because the emerging technology is rapidly changing since public awareness of it increased a few years ago, whatever I might say seems unlikely to persist in relevance for long. For now, people I know reject it as something of value. Evidence is everywhere. May… Read more

  • Gardening Septuagenarian

    With spring’s garden work, my joints ache in the morning. By the time I finish my daily exercises and 30-minute walk on the state park trail, the ache subsides. I wouldn’t change anything, yet have to wonder how many more years I can continue tending the large garden we have. That’s not a question for… Read more