Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”
– Sir Winston Churchill
2022 – A Monumental Year
The year 2022 started out with the promise of the end of the COVID-19 global pandemic but quickly showed us the doorstep of World War III with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. As it comes to a close, I look back at all the events that took place this year. Some predictable, others not, like my diagnosis with stage-IV prostate cancer in July, and the shocking, though not too surprising tragic death of my son, Mitchell, in the Kansas City area only 2 weeks after my diagnosis.
Continue readingA “Dead Ringer” for a “Wake” – Ring a Bell?
I caught this interesting post from the Facebook timeline of one of my High School classmates. Since I’ve always been intrigued by these kinds of trivial factoids, wanted to share.
Continue readingOh What a Week it’s Been!
For the last 3 or 4 weeks, I’ve experienced definite problems with my “plumbing.” As I was due for a visit to my Doctor, I informed him of my dilemma at my appointment last Thursday. They did the standard blood work, but he stressed an emphasis on prostate function with a section called PSA.
Continue readingState of the World – May, 2022
Being that this is my personal blog, I’m not restricted by Facebook, Twitter, governmental regulations, or anything! This is my right to “free speech” as written in the Constitution of the United States of America!
Continue readingRunaway Project
Since I skipped my annual Spring cleaning last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I started early this year. And oh what a fine mess it’s gotten to be!
Continue readingIllinois 38th Infantry
My paternal grandfather’s great-uncle, Eli H. Dowell, was in the 38th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company K, of the Union Army during the American Civil War. His unit took place in many actions in what was considered “the war in the west”, including the major battles of Perryville, Stones River (Murfreesboro), and Chickamauga.
Continue readingLooking Forward to 2021!
With all of the craziness we’ve experienced over the last year, soon to be “topped-off” by the upcoming election, how nice it will be to get 2020 “in the books!”
Continue readingThe Old Magnolia Tree
When our family lived in Durham, North Carolina, for the second time between the years of 1963 and 1971, we lived in an area that was a boyhood dream. In our back yard, less than 20 yards from the house, was an old log cabin with remnants of a linoleum floor and a covered hole in the wall that was once for a stovepipe. The cabin had been a dwelling at one time. Just across the street, was the eastern boundary of Duke Forest, in which my neighborhood friends and I had a network of paths and forts extending almost to Orange County to the east.
Continue readingClose Encounter of the Iconic Kind
It’s not likely to go through life without having some form of contact with someone well-known, whether it be a professional athlete, a politician, television personality, or some kind of celebrity. I have been fortunate over the years to have known and even become friends with some very famous, popular, and well-known individuals, but the biggest by far was an encounter with a particular screen icon!
Continue readingThe Year 2020 at Halftime
In my Daily Updates from The New York Times, one of the topics was a reflection on this already historic year as we are midway through it.
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