State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

Home Life

Historical category no longer used.

  • Mid-April Snow

    Last night’s snowfall should melt by sunset as the forecast is ambient temperatures in the 40s. The sound of melting snow moving in the gutter is already background for this morning’s work. Three inches of heavy, wet snow is melting on the car parked in the driveway. I won’t get into the garden again today.… Read more

  • Gardening in the Pandemic

    Buds of leaves and flowers are beginning to burst. Spring has sprung with its sunny yet chilly good news. I planted in the greenhouse and in the ground on Friday. In the greenhouse: Multi-colored Swiss Chard, Ferry-Morse, 50-60 days. In the ground: Oregon Giant Snow Peas, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, 60 days. Super Sugarsnap Peas, Johnny’s… Read more

  • Cold and Windy Spring Day

    Tuesday was the last time I started the automobiles. I plan a drive in each of them later today to make sure the batteries don’t drain. With gasoline selling for $1.259 per gallon I’ll don a protective mask and gloves and fill the one I missed while out to buy groceries. It’s a maintenance mode… Read more

  • Planting During Green Up

    Green up is all around and it’s time to get tomatoes and peppers planted. Sunday, in a long session, I planted tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos and eggplant — hopefully enough seedlings for our garden with leftovers to share with neighbors. I planted from seed: Bell peppers: Pepper Quadrato D Asti Rosso, Ferry-Morse, 95-110 days. Garden Leader… Read more

  • Nostalgic Breakfast Tacos

    There is a 25 percent chance of rain beginning at 9 a.m., according to the weather application. I pulled the cars out of the garage so that space can be used for other projects if the forecast proves to be true. Despite the coronavirus epidemic the waste hauler is working today so I put the… Read more

  • First Big Grove Garden Plot

    I planted our first Big Grove Township garden in Spring 1994. What I grew is lost in memory. Yesterday the original plot looked a wreck with desiccated weeds and a hodge-podge of sunken containers, fencing, two composters, a wheel barrow, an old wash tub, six-inch pieces of drainage tile resting on a couple of pallets,… Read more

  • Saturday Errands

    I yearn to live a normal life. I’m not the only one. Raised in a community of a hundred thousand people, I found something new was always going on. I didn’t discover the half of it. My craving for discovery continued with our move to a rural community in 1993. In the context of yearning… Read more

  • Pivot From the Caucus

    While the Iowa caucus news cycle lingers, I am already gone. After a Saturday of political engagement — an interview with Michael Franken of Sioux City who is running for the Democratic nomination as U.S. Senator from Iowa, and a town hall meeting with my state representative Bobby Kaufmann — Michael Wines of the New… Read more

  • Winter Flight

    While I’m typing our daughter is driving to the airport where she will board an aircraft for a rare visit home. The flight is on-time despite Iowa’s winter weather. Except to attend Mother’s funeral, she hasn’t been home since April 2016. We are looking forward to seeing her as phone calls, text messages and email… Read more

  • Cavendish Banana Bread

    Three bananas were going bad on the counter so I decided to make banana bread. That’s what people do, or at least did when I was still at home. These were Cavendish bananas as most commercially available ones are. They were also organic although I’m not sure how cultivation is different. Like its predecessor, the… Read more