Recollections of my years at St Joseph's School

Jill shares her memories of school at St Joseph's, her love of reading and her horror of mental arithmetic.  
Continue reading
  1596 Views
  0 Comments
1596 Views
0 Comments

A Simple Math Problem

A Simple Math Problem
On the road again..! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   A Simple Math Problem   How do you divide 6 chapattis into equal parts to provide equal portions and a simple lunch for four foresters? The math is simple enough but the problem, at the...
Continue reading
  2348 Views
  2 Comments
2348 Views
2 Comments

The Day I Became a A Co-Conspirator

The Day I Became a A Co-Conspirator
The early day Volkswagen busses, vans or whatever they were properly called were noisy magnificently wonderful, contrivances.   Nothing like them was being made in American factories.  With two rows of seats behind the front seat you could pack six adults and a fair amount of luggage behind the rear seat.  Or,...
Continue reading
  1502 Views
  4 Comments
1502 Views
4 Comments

Unique Zebra Amber

Unique Zebra Amber
  On the road… again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Zebra Amber   Many times we all take things for granted.  Being comfortable with one’s personal ignorance is a way to cope, so although we strive to know what is going on, or knowing...
Continue reading
  5093 Views
  0 Comments
5093 Views
0 Comments

Over Time, Even The Facts Change

Over Time, Even The Facts Change
On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Re-Learning Geography Learning the names of state capitals was a fundamental part of geography classes, and in grammar school, Geography was his favorite subject.  Although some people believe that knowledge is power; others discount the importance...
Continue reading
  2210 Views
  2 Comments
2210 Views
2 Comments

Newspapers' Value in Research--and Beyond

Newspapers may just give us the "story behind the story!"

Continue reading
  1502 Views
  0 Comments
1502 Views
0 Comments

A Rare Species of Palm Threatened With Extinction

A Rare Species of Palm Threatened With Extinction
  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION Attalea   crassispatha (C. Martius) Burret, the "Coco rosse" known only to a handful of botanists and the Haitian villagers in the Southwest of Haiti, may be one of the rarest palms...
Continue reading
  2818 Views
  0 Comments
2818 Views
0 Comments

Drink The Water

Drink The Water
  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Drink the Water   Once again during his later years, the Footloose Forester was inspired by a dream to craft a chronicle about something that might not otherwise stand alone as an interesting story. As...
Continue reading
  3270 Views
  0 Comments
3270 Views
0 Comments

Gathering Your Life Stories

Gathering Your Life Stories
Your Family Heritage Recipes Within your circle of family and friends are you known for making a special dish, the dish you are always asked to bring to a family gathering or a social get-together?  I remember interviewing a blind 90 year old lady who told me that she was known...
Continue reading
  1347 Views
  2 Comments
1347 Views
2 Comments

Evln Wd Spd Rdng

The following may be little more than a rant,,,,but I wonder where we will be in the coming years? The growing popularity of things like Twitter and Texting which necessarily limit messages to extremely short blasts could have a detrimental effect on the growth of knowledge and understanding. The great lessons in...
Continue reading
  1820 Views
  5 Comments
1820 Views
5 Comments

A Hundred People In A Banyan Tree?

A Hundred People In A Banyan Tree?
  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   I is for India   A hundred people in a banyan tree? The banyan tree in India is many times larger than this one While watching a sci-fi movie in which three young adventurers were...
Continue reading
  2171 Views
  0 Comments
2171 Views
0 Comments

Put On Your Dancing Shoes

Along about 1967 the tsunami of money from the Federal Government to “Education” that was created by the nerve shattering “beep-beep-beeping” of the world’s first space vehicle had reached its crest and was receding.   It was Russia’s vehicle. . . and it was called “Sputnik” or fellow traveler. Those beeps were...
Continue reading
  1377 Views
  6 Comments
1377 Views
6 Comments

Growing Bamboo

Growing Bamboo
On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Growing Bamboo Almost every time that he passed the dwarf bamboo thicket planted alongside his house in Pennsylvania, the Footloose Forester was reminded that bamboo was part of his family life. At one time or another,...
Continue reading
  2785 Views
  3 Comments
2785 Views
3 Comments

Learning About The Glacial Geology Near Netcong, NJ

Learning About The Glacial Geology Near Netcong, NJ
  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Learning The Local Geology Around Netcong, New Jersey OK, maybe he always was a slow learner.  For sure he would never deny that he was slow to put things together.  So it took 50 years...
Continue reading
  6477 Views
  0 Comments
6477 Views
0 Comments

Mr. "X" and the "Blimp"

All science classes in the small-town high school from which I graduated were taught by a poor soul whom, for out of respect for his memory, I will not name.  Consider him “Mr. X.”  Mr. X became infamous for the total anarchy that reigned in his classroom.  This unfortunate man had...
Continue reading
  1269 Views
  6 Comments
1269 Views
6 Comments

Reporting School Discoveries

In reply to the question to write about one's greatest achievement in my life, I wrote the following: Since only one in ten students graduate from stenotype school, I would have to say that this has been my greatest achievement. The fall after graduating from Frank W. Cox High School in 1970, I...
Continue reading
  1400 Views
  0 Comments
1400 Views
0 Comments

What I have been doing most of my life

It was my mother's idea that I go "into nursing".  The Episcopal priest from the church we attended  visited us one hot  August day prior to my entering high school.  He suggested a particular school in New York City.  Over time I sent for information, jumped through the hoops to apply...
Continue reading
  1330 Views
  4 Comments
1330 Views
4 Comments

Magical Mystery Tour

Today I taught week #2 of my 6 week 'Unlock Your Personal Stories' workshop at my local library, near my home nestled in the foothills of the Mt Lofty Ranges in Adelaide. I was tired this morning, having sat up until 1.30am to participate in a webinar with colleagues in the...
Continue reading
  1560 Views
  10 Comments
1560 Views
10 Comments

My Colleague, My Friend

I have lots a acquaintances, but a true friend is a treasue!  Laurel is one of the few acquaintances I have that I would consider a true friend. In the 1980s, I was teaching at Farrer Jr. High School in Provo, Utah.  Bruce Evans and I had been the mainstays in...
Continue reading
  1163 Views
  3 Comments
1163 Views
3 Comments

The Door Opener

The Door Opener
Pleasant Hill’s school bus, like those of today, had a lever with a big handle attached to a rod that opened and closed the door.  The younger boys considered it fun and an honor to stand alongside the bus driver to open and close the door at each stop.  The bus...
Continue reading
  1363 Views
  3 Comments
1363 Views
3 Comments