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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Aging Books Cars Christmas Civil-Rights-History Cocktails-Spirits Community Current-Events Family Fishing Food Gardening Guatemala Health I-Care Ireland June Marriage Memoir-Writing Music Personal-Essays Politics Road-Trips Ted The-Shack Travel

2014

Letting Go of the Old, Welcoming the New
Road Trip Epilogue
Road Trip Six
Road Trip Five
Road Trip Four
Road Trip Three
The Road Trip Takes a Detour
Road Trip Two
Road Trip Day One
Be Very Thankful
Imagining a Warmer Day
Procrastination
Out with the Old, In with the New
The Wiener Roast
Ebola Fever
The Last Round of the Year
Math at its Core
A Report on Thursday
You Are Where You Are
Dogs in the Bible, truth from fiction, raising kids
Going North Part 2
Going North
Pain
Going Home
Farm Dogs
Talking to My Dog
Our Dog Died
No Thank You
This post interrupted by an urgent message
Judging at the 4-H Fair
The Week in Review
Vision is a Precious Thing
Reader Feedback
It Takes My Breath Away
Garden Report
Oh Brother
Tunes for the Old Crowd
For Some, Winter Never Ends
Mushroom Hunting
Computer Hell
Katahdin Sheep
A Story for Spring
Independent Living
Raising Chickens
Death Hits Hard
We've Only Just Begun
Finding your Place
And I thought the snow was bad
Astronomy
Trujillo Honduras
Chopper Mittens
Music Appreciation: Chopin
We're So Smart
Four Days from the Shack Journal
Inside the Shack

Cars

The Old Man in the TR 2
The Autobahn
Road Trip Redux - 2023
Are You Good with Uncertainty?
Metz and Mannington
Bridge Street Restaurant
Cameron West Virginia
Zanesville Ohio
Going for the Rare Do Over
Problems with the Buick
A Man Who is Cold
The Fate of the Buick
Digging Thistles
Dinner at The Shack
A Buick Reverie on Kindness and Cruelty
Heading Out
Selma
The Road to Selma
BBQ and Lickin' Good Donuts
Road Trip Day One
Just Where am I Going?
Santa Came to Town
End of the Road
Leaving Arkansas in Sunshine
Road Trip Re-routed.
I made it to Cairo, but it was nothing like Egypt
Road Trip-Leaving Illinois
Road Trip-Getting Started
The 96 LeSabre Reappears
Paper Route
Road Trip 2016 # 12
Road Trip 2016 #11
Road Trip # 10
Road Trip 2016 # 8
Road Trip 2016 # 7
Road Trip 2016 # 6
Road Trip 2016 # 5
Road Trip 2016 #4
Road Trip 2016 # 3
Road Trip # 2
Road Trip 2016 #1
Waddya know? Santa Showed Up.
Seeing the World As It Is
Long Distance Dad
Road Trip Epilogue
Road Trip Six
Road Trip Five
Road Trip Four
Road Trip Three
Road Trip Two

Personal-Essays

Filling Up These Days
A Garbage Day Tale
Breakfast at the Shelter 2025
Goodbye to the Trib
Hamburger Mary Comes to Ottawa
Come Back Barbara Lewis
Back to the Farm
My Brain was Interrupted
Life on the Edge of Town
Two Lovely Ladies
A Chance Encounter on the Way to Quesadillas
Mario y Humberto
Food and Shelter
Golfing in the Moment
Takashi Murakami
LIfe is Changing
Those Poor Poets
Mom Pushes a Ford
Glue
The 2014 Cubs: Best of the Worst
What was Gained?
Bathrooms
A Musical Conversation with my Dad
The Real Cost of Gamesmanship
Farewell 2015 Cubs and Thank You
Hallelujah! Robots Milk Cows!
Golf among the Idle
The 2015 Cubs
Illinois Today
Alone Again
Believe it or Not
Machu Picchu
OK, So I was Wrong
Career Day
Cheese, Guns, and Death. C'est la vie.
Be Very Thankful
Imagining a Warmer Day
Procrastination
The Last Round of the Year
You Are Where You Are
Dogs in the Bible, truth from fiction, raising kids
Going Home
Our Dog Died
No Thank You
For Some, Winter Never Ends
Mushroom Hunting
Katahdin Sheep
Raising Chickens
Astronomy
Chopper Mittens
Listening
The Difference Between Him and Me
Davion Navar Henry Only
It's Good Out There
Sing Out
State Fair Revisited
Old Friends
Just Say No
Spring Plowing
Bad news on the doorstep...
Going to Springfield as a Boy
Life and Death in the Backyard
Shelling Corn
We Kept Sheep

Politics

A Day in Court
Sunset in Memphis
I Have a New Gig
The Talk Turned to Politics
Welcome June
Food and Wood
Tumultuous Days in America
Election Day 2020
A Dinner Conversation Revisited
Voting
Change Can Be Infectious
Dear Abby
Captivated by Numbers
Keeping Vigil
Tales from Donegal
Who are You Going to Shoot?
Understanding Horror
Dinner at The Shack
Catching up to 2019
A Buick Reverie on Kindness and Cruelty
Selma
The Road to Selma
More Lessons Learned in Montgomery
The Civil War and its Aftermath
A Hero of Birmingham
All Politics are Local
Chattanooga Chugs On
Vote with your Heart
Sara Dady for Congress in the 16th
Care, Resist, Vote
End of the Road
Running for Office
The Elevator Speech
Can We Talk About Guns Now?
Politics as Theater
Write Hard and Clear
They kill us. We kill them.
These Days
1961
Governor Rauner Comes to Ottawa
No Justice No Peace
The Principals are Wounded. Bring in the Seconds.
Dueling: I'm not Talking Banjos.
Illinois is Drowning
What Did You Expect?
Be Calm
Compromise is Not a Dirty Word
Out with the Old, In with the New
We've Only Just Begun
And I thought the snow was bad
Civics

The-Shack

Dinner in the Field and other stories
Santa Comes to the Shack
Santa Gave Me Advice for Christmas
My Heroes are Crashing Down
Hey, how about the clock?
Memphis
I Have a New Gig
Baby in the Sun - 2011
Minutiae
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words?
Santa Visits the Shack
Spring Cleaning
Food and Wood
Tumultuous Days in America
A Dinner Conversation Revisited
Change Can Be Infectious
Classical Music and Corncobs
A Report from the Shack
Fooling Around
Learning from Mistakes
Animal Stories
Dinner at The Shack
The Road to Selma
Leaving Guatemala
Namaste
Vote with your Heart
Animal Stories
Bucket Lists, A Garden Report, and a Nugget of Local News
The Elevator Speech
Thoughts on Fuel and this blog
Getting the Tree
Read the Labels on Your Drugs
Do Not Resuscitate-1 of 2
Going to Guatemala
They kill us. We kill them.
Beyond Words
Burning in the New Year
Change, peanut brittle, and other winter topics
These Days
1961
Postscript on Century Lake
Paper Route
August Shack Report
Out of Selfishness
Such is Life (the French say it better)
Baby in the Sun Remembered
Be Calm
Writing Early in the Monring
Something Stinks
Hot Dog Blog delayed
Believe it or Not II
It's Spring. Wear a Hat.
Hung Up in Ecuador in 1976
You Hit me, I Hit you
We Kept Sheep
Yesterday I went to Court
Long Distance Dad
A Gun, in a Purse, by a Baby
Letting Go of the Old, Welcoming the New
Road Trip Epilogue
Road Trip Day One
The Wiener Roast
Math at its Core
A Report on Thursday
Going North
Talking to My Dog
Reader Feedback
It Takes My Breath Away
Oh Brother
Tunes for the Old Crowd
Computer Hell
Music Appreciation: Chopin
Four Days from the Shack Journal
Inside the Shack
Blue Christmas
Short Days
Sharing the Truth We Discover
It's Friday Already?
Giving Thanks
Here we go

Travel

After Being Fooled
Glad That Didn't Happen to Me
Finding Work in Aberdeen
The Old Man in the TR 2
Sunset in Memphis
Imagining "The Talk"
Chasing the Ghost of Tyre Nichols
Memphis Part 2
Memphis
Taking the Long Way
Road Trip Redux - 2023
Metz and Mannington
The Talk Turned to Politics
Bridge Street Restaurant
Cameron West Virginia
West Virginia
Zanesville Ohio
Going for the Rare Do Over
Breakfast at the Hi-Way with MLK
Problems with the Buick
A Dinner Conversation Revisited
The Fate of the Buick
Dinner at The Shack
Catching up to 2019
A Buick Reverie on Kindness and Cruelty
Heading Out
Selma
The Road to Selma
More Lessons Learned in Montgomery
The Civil War and its Aftermath
Montgomery, Alabama-the back story
BBQ and Lickin' Good Donuts
A Hero of Birmingham
Entering Alabama
Road Trip Day One
Remembering a Poet
Just Where am I Going?
Chattanooga Chugs On
End of the Road
A Night in Natchez
Lunch in Louisiana
Leaving Arkansas in Sunshine
Road Trip Re-routed.
I made it to Cairo, but it was nothing like Egypt
Ferris Wheels and Accredited Professionals
Road Trip-Leaving Illinois
Road Trip-Getting Started
Prelude to a Road Trip
Road Trip 2016-The End
Road Trip 2016 # 12
Road Trip 2016 #11
Road Trip # 10
Road Trip 2016 # 9
Road Trip 2016 # 8
Road Trip 2016 # 7
Road Trip 2016 # 6
Road Trip 2016 # 5
Road Trip 2016 #4
Road Trip 2016 # 3
Road Trip # 2
Road Trip 2016 #1
Hung Up in Ecuador in 1976
Road Trip Epilogue
Road Trip Six
Road Trip Five
Road Trip Four
Road Trip Three
The Road Trip Takes a Detour
Road Trip Two
Road Trip Day One
Finding your Place
Sharing the Truth We Discover