Galena Illinois is one of my all time favorite towns. These pictures were taken in October 2009 which was our third visit to the city. Beside having an absolutely beautiful downtown area it was also the home of President Ulysses S. Grant. Continue reading Galena IL
I seem to spend quite a bit of my retirement time tending my yard and garden. At least in the warm weather months that is. Don’t get me wrong; I am by no means a perfectionist who manicures his lawn with tweezers. The opposite is more realistic for me. But I do enjoy this type of work providing the weather cooperates. I live … Continue reading Yard and Garden (and Tomatoes)…
I know some people go through life without any pets. We had some neighbors across the street from us once who I deemed as “neat freaks” . Their house was always so immaculate. They would never have considered pets as they were just dirty little creatures who pooped and otherwise contaminated people’s lives. I always felt sorry for their son who had to grow up … Continue reading A Life Without Pets??
My wife and I have always had pets around our homes. I can’t imagine life without them. So, I have put together this collage of some of our furry, and not so furry, friends. No, we don’t actually have any pet cows but I think if Yvonne could have figured out how to get one in our trunk we would have! 🙂 Continue reading The Pets of my Life…
As I mentioned before my wife and I were not fortunate enough to have had any children. But maybe the post will accidentally fall into the hands of some of you who can learn from one of my life’s lessons. One of the things that I found strikingly odd when I was growing up was that our parents would take me and my two brothers … Continue reading Don’t Do as I Do…But
The Des Moines Botanical Center is not one of the largest we have visited but it probably one of the best maintained (both inside and out). Date Visited June 2010 Continue reading Des Moines Botanical Center – Des Moines, IA
When I went deaf in 1988 there was no way for me to communicate with my wife or others once I left the house. Even at home calling others was almost impossible. I had a device called a TTY but the person I called also had to have one to communicate with me. They cost about $500 and could only be used with deaf people … Continue reading Text Messaging is the Way For Me…..
These pictures of the Iowa Historical Museum, that is in front of the Capital Building, were also taken during our June 2010 trip. Besides the Iowa political primaries section of the museum one of my favorite things was the skyscraper made from Leggo blocks that was in the lobby. Continue reading Iowa Historical Museum – Des Moines, IA
OK, first let me start out by completing the title message. Personal adversity makes us stronger or breaks us. As I mentioned a few posts ago I went deaf about twenty years ago and have consequently faced my share of adversity since then. In the coming months, I will share specific stories about this but I want to keep it on a higher level for … Continue reading Personal Adversity Makes Us Stronger or…
Here are some pictures from inside the Des Moines Capital building. I particularly like the library with the spiral staircase. As usual click on any photo below to see a larger image. Continue reading Inside the Capital Building – Des Moines, IA
My wife Yvonne and I did not get married until we were both over forty years old. This was the first marriage for both of us. We have been married almost twenty five years now. Although we had been working in the same building together for more than fifteen years our paths just never crossed. It was a very big building! Yvonne said if we … Continue reading My Hubby of Nearly 25 Years….
Let’s stay in Des Moines for a few more posts. Here are some pictures of the outside of the Capital building. It is one of the most beautiful capitals we have visited in the U.S. But, we did get there at the peak flower time. Whenever we visit a State we always try to manage a visit to the Capital. Continue reading Capital Building – Des Moines, IA
I like most people I guess, seem to go through my life concentrating mainly on the giant leaps. Getting my driver’s license, my first legal drink, the first job, getting married, retiring, etc, etc. These always seem to be things I am waiting for. But I have come to realize that by far most of life is the little steps. Those things we choose … Continue reading Life is Mainly Little Steps…
We visited here in June of this year. They have, in addition to the town in the pictures, several different farms set representing different Iowa farming eras. as usual click on a thumb nail below to see a full size version Continue reading Living History Farms – Des Moines IA
I must admit that I am a U.S. history nut. In my life I have read several hundred books on the subject. Being non-violent at my core this list does not include many books on our wars but instead I focused on the people of the times. Except for the Revolutionary War which is necessary to understand the foundations of our society, I pretty much … Continue reading Bent’s Old Fort – One of My Favorite Historical Sites
I thought I would show you a picture of the other member of our family. As shown in this January 2009 photo she just loves the snow. Continue reading My Dog Beulah
I graduated from Purdue University in 1970 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I was the first one in either Mom or Dad’s family that had graduated from college. Because Dad was a milk man and Mom had abandoned him with two young boys ten years before I had to work my way through college. But that is another story. When I graduated I interviewed … Continue reading Career opportunities then and now..
Let’s start out with a picture of me and my wife in 1999. We lived in New Jersey then and made rather frequent trips to NYC. This picture was taken on Ellis Island. Notice the World Trade Center in the background. Continue reading Me and the Hubby – 1999
I am doing something here that I have not done on any of the other blogs I have created. I am going to come up front with the fact that I am deaf. Being deaf is a major part of my daily experiences but it is not who I am. It is just one of those obstacles that sometimes get in the way of having … Continue reading I am deaf….
Looking back on my life in the corporate world something very distinct happened in the early 1980s. Loyalty disappeared. Companies started treating employees as liabilities and employees therefore lost any sense of commitment to their employers. Lifelong employment with one company began to be a thing of the past. I like to blame in on the Reagan administration and their fierce conservatism, which by the … Continue reading Something happened in the Early 1980s…
One of the biggest walls I faced as I entered retirement was what am I going to spend my time on now that I seem to have so much! Suddenly not going into my usual eleven hour a day job in the corporate world was traumatizing indeed. I spent a lot of time flopping around like a fish suddenly pulled out of the pond. It … Continue reading Community Service…
I was eight years old when I gave my best friend a black eye over some dispute that I can’t even remember. Immediately after that incident I was totally devastated over the violence I had done. I promised myself that I would never strike or injure another person in that manner. I have lived up to that promise in the fifty odd years since then. … Continue reading Nonviolence
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet about this blog is that it will be much about retirement living. Yeah, I know you are saying “You are in retirement and still don’t know what you want to do when you grow up?” Well, that is just who I am I guess! I retired, or I could say I was retired, from the corporate world ten years … Continue reading Retirement Living…
The question in the title of this post is probably asked millions of times a day by various people to someone who is usually just starting out in life. I remember the first time it was asked of me. At about the age of twelve or so when my father first addressed the issue. Like most twelve year olds I couldn’t understand why I needed … Continue reading What do you want to do when you grow up?
I have come to the point where I need some time away from theology things. So I will stop blogging on RLL starting today. How long my hiatus will be I don’t know right now. Thanks to all of you who read me on occasions. I am humbled that you think my words are worth your time. I pray that all of you continue to … Continue reading Some Time Away….
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