State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

Sustainability

  • Evacuation of Cedar Rapids Under Way

    The headline from this morning’s Des Moines Register was that residents of 5,000 Cedar Rapids homes were asked to evacuate in advance of the flood crest predicted to arrive Tuesday morning. The height of the crest has been revised downward to 23 feet, however, damage is expected to be severe. Cedar Rapids fire officials plan… Read more

  • Crashing into September

    Things are falling apart so Tuesday I begin four days paid vacation from the home, farm and auto supply store. I plan to catch up around the house and run a few errands in and near the county seat — and try to regain a sense of being in control. Not counting one paid sick… Read more

  • Protect Environment; Stop Nuclear Weapons

    (Editor’s Note: When this guest column ran in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Wednesday, Sept. 21, its abstract nature became real as heavy precipitation events pummeled Butler County and other parts of northeastern Iowa, disrupting lives there and downstream. Living in an environment where rain damages crops instead of nurturing them; where rivers jump their… Read more

  • Autumn Begins with a Flood

    There was a lot to make one cranky as summer ended yesterday, including the weather. Extremely heavy rains are flooding parts of Iowa and the impact will soon be felt downstream. The Cedar River is expected to crest at 24.1 feet next week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the highest level after the record 31.12 foot… Read more

  • Into The Vanishing Point

    A new perspective revealed itself from paths traveled daily. Something showed through the uncut grass and garden in the light of a rising sun. I should quit thinking and mow the damn lawn. It depends. What time will I finish at the orchard? How will I feel after interacting with locals for a shift? Will… Read more

  • Poblanos, Onions and Pickles

    JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa — In the margins of time between social engagements lives a local food movement available to all who seek it. There is inadequate time in life’s span to become an enthusiast, however pursuit of local food culture is not only okay, it can be rewarded with meals that comfort more ways than… Read more

  • Into Fall

    The first leaves on our Autumn Blaze maple tree turned over the weekend — a reminder of summer’s imminent end. A lesson learned this season was of the limits of worklife and the tendency to let personal things go when engaged in a big endeavor. The garden, yard and house cleaning fell to the bottom… Read more

  • A NATO Nuclear Weapons Problem

    One risk of U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in NATO countries is that security may fail and bombs could fall into unknown hands. During the recent coup attempt in Turkey, Turkish forces surrounded the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik (where several dozen Cold War era B-61 gravity bombs are vaulted), cut off electrical power, and… Read more

  • Opioids: A Conjured Crisis

    Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack scolded the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine about opioid abuse on Friday. The institution is not doing enough to train its soon-to-be health professionals on an opioid abuse epidemic that claims thousands of lives a year nationally, Vilsack said, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The university just… Read more

  • Can Hipsters Stomach The Truth About Avocados From Mexico

    Can consumers buy avocados from Mexico at the grocery store, or in prepared guacamole with impunity? Probably not. Last week’s article “In Mexico, high avocado prices fueling deforestation” by Associated Press author Mark Stevenson explained why. Americans’ love for avocados and rising prices for the highly exportable fruit are fueling the deforestation of central Mexico’s… Read more