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
Lunar Landing – A Half a Century Ago
Incredibly, today, July 20th, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing, which fulfilled President Kennedy’s 1961 vow to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Continue readingHelô Pinheiro, That Girl From Ipanema
Who could not be familiar with the world’s most famous bossa nova song, Girl From Ipanema? The song was written in 1962 by Brazilians songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinicius de Moraes as they were sitting in the Veloso, a cabana on the famous beach in Rio, watching a young siren walk to the sea.
Continue readingForty Years of “Gravy”
On July 14, 1979, I turned my 1975 Monte Carlo into an El Camino, instantly. I also managed to push the ball of my femur through the back of its socket. Basically, I broke my hip, the largest joint in the human body. Some describe the pain of a broken hip as comparable to that of birthing a child. Having had no way of verifying that, I just took their word for it. By the way, it was painful enough to make those analogies seem valid.
Continue readingIndiana’s Contribution to Music
A while back, I posted about Indiana authors of note. Here’s a follow-up post comprising a list of contributors who’ve made a huge impact to music from the Hoosier state!
Continue readingThe First “First Lady”
One of the largest repositories of genealogical data in the world belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormons. During my ongoing research into my family tree, I’ve used the LDS genealogy website, familysearch.org, extensively and often receive notifications of new findings as they arise.
Continue readingReturn to the Lone Star State
After arriving home yesterday morning at 7:00 am from a road trip to my previous state of residence, I reflect on the week-long excursion. From Muncie to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is roughly one thousand miles, about 16 hours of drive time using the optimum route. Having made the trip many times over the last 4 decades, the distance may not have changed, but my physical stamina and mental acuity sure have!
Continue readingDayton Days
We were in our apartment at Poplar Apartments in Durham, North Carolina, when Dad opted for the Air Force instead of waiting for his draft number to come up. Originally, we were to be heading to San Antonio, which I thought was cool since I’d been learning all about the Alamo, in fact, we had just watched the John Wayne film classic. However, at the last minute the final verdict came in and it would be “Wright-Patt”, so it was off to Dayton, Ohio.
Continue readingBrief History of the Jack O’ Lantern
By ESanders (WMF) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Tonight is officially Halloween of 2017. That means trick-or-treat for the kids, pranks for the juveniles, costume parties for the adults, and of course, the lighting of the carved-up pumpkin. But how did the “Jack-o-Lantern”, become such a traditional part of all this?
Continue readingSecrets of Gimghoul Castle
Some of our family’s happiest times were while living in North Carolina for the second time from 1969 to 1971. Our close friends, the Booth family, were instrumental in the creation of many of those fond memories. Bob Booth Sr., head of the Durham Chamber of Commerce, his wife Barbara, a native Tarheel, their intellectually gifted elder child Susan, and Bobby Jr., who was my age, were extremely knowledgeable of the region which included neighboring Orange County to the west, the location of Chapel Hill. One of the enigmas of Chapel Hill, the college town home of one of the three oldest public universities in the country, the University of North Carolina, was a place known as Gimghoul Castle.
Continue readingTies to the Mayflower
Though it’s estimated that about 35 million Americans are related to the passengers of the Mayflower to some degree, it’s a little rarer to have a direct line to one, and no easy task to be able to prove it.
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