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 readingCategory Archives: Reflection
Close 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 readingReliving Autumn of 1985
Back in December of 2019, I was contacted by Chris, who along with his wife, both from Muncie, have put together a podcast series on unsolved Indiana homicides in the central region of the state. The title of the Series is “Circle City Crime” and it is now in its second season.
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 readingWeekend at Hueston Woods
One Summer weekend in the early 1980s while I was attending Summer session, Dad, Sharon (step-mother), Kim (sister) and I, ventured to Hueston Woods, a State Park located just east of the Indiana/Ohio state line near College Corner. The park is 5 miles north of Oxford, Ohio, the home of Miami University of Ohio, one of the nation’s oldest public institutions of higher learning.
Continue readingCarolina On My Mind
I have very fond memories of North Carolina, having spent six of the first
eleven years of my life in Durham, all but two school years prior to Junior High there, and after ten years of being an only child, was blessed with a little sister while there.
2014 in Review
2014 – a year of hope, promise and loss.
- Dr. William Bock Jr – March 26, 2014
- Bob Adams – September 1, 2014
- Dr. Charles Leiphart – September 19, 2014
- Mr. Dieter – September 5, 2014
William "Bill" Bock, Jr. – Scholar, Soldier, Christian, True Friend
As Bill and I shook hands on the afternoon of March 11, 2014, his departing words to me were, “Don’t forget about the guy upstairs”. That was the last time I saw him. Bill Bock passed away on March 26 after his cardiac device malfunctioned.
Continue readingMemories of My First Wheels
My first automobile was a red 1969 Ford Torino GT with a black vinyl top powered by a 351 Windsor small block V8. Though it had a considerable amount of rust to both rear quarter panels, it had relatively low mileage for a six year old vehicle and the price was only $700.00.
Continue readingOn Nelson Mandela
Awe-inspiring words –
Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
– Nelson Mandela
Steve D.