When Michele and I recently visited our friend, Wayne, who lives near Diamond Head, we took early morning walks along Diamond Head road next to the extinct volcano. Tropical Storm Fausto had just passed by northern island chain and we observed a large number of surfers riding the waves toward
My first cousin, Ira Wagler, published a New York Times best-selling memoir titled, Growing up Amish (2010) that tells the story of leaving his Old Order Amish family and church at age twenty-six. Ira was torn by family ties and the attachment to his church so that in
While writing my memoir I was often asked when my book would be completed and become available. I now have good news--an actual copy of my book is in my hand and is called a proof. (It was formerly called a galley proof that referred to a long tray
My first condor The Passenger Pigeon was our largest and most colorful wild pigeon but became extinct when the last pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. It was once the most abundant bird in North America. After the Civil War, these pigeons were observed migrating in gigantic flocks,
While growing up during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s my brothers and I often saw B-52 bombers flying over the Ozark skies. The plane had a distinctive appearance but we usually identified the airplane before we saw it because of its unique sound. I have some
July 4, 2023 The earliest firecrackers date back to China in the 2nd century BCE when bamboo stalks were placed on a fire to keep evil spirits away. The heated stalks exploded with a popping sound and led to the development of firecrackers. During the Tang Dynasty, 600-900 CE,
Michele and I recently visited the Congressional Library in Washington DC, the largest such library in the world, housing 2.9 million documents. It prominently displays the Gutenberg Bible (one of 21 copies still in existence) produced by Johann Guntenberg in Mainz, Germany in 1455, based on the text of
Approaching the American Falls As the last scheduled event for the Center for Inquiry conference that I attended recently in Buffalo, NY, a group of us participants piled into two buses and made the forty-minute ride to the Niagara Falls. Enroute, our guide quizzed us with obscure facts about
Tunnel at the beginning At the end of our 17-day tour of the northwest African coastal region, Michele and I flew from Marrakesh, Morocco to Paris for the last leg of our trip. Both Michele and Megan urged me to visit the Paris Catacombs, something I had missed on
During a week-long cruise along the northwest African coast, Michele and I joined a day excursion from the port city of Agadir, Morocco (founded by the Portuguese in 1505) on a bus that traveled inland through the arid countryside with fields and olive trees. We passed villages, some in
Mexican tree cacti Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962), was born to a famous Art Nouveau furniture designer in Nancy, France, who wanted him to study architecture, but Jacques chose to study art at the Académie Julian in Paris. During his formative years, he lived in Egypt for a few years where
Blog No 26. The Desert Snake--the World's Longest Train Michele and I returned from a 22-day journey to northwest Africa with a stopover in Paris. The highlight was a week voyage on the Swan Hellenic Diana, a 5-star polar ship (a class of its own)