Two Days of Infamy

Two Days of Infamy
Cornflowers blooming, field corn tasseling, crisp evenings.  A time of year to be relished.  I was an Educator . . .   September . . . the beginning of another school year, a fresh start, a rebirth of hope.  A panoply of young people and children, some eager to learn, some...
Continue reading
  1708 Views
  0 Comments
1708 Views
0 Comments

Guns Take A Toll

Guns Take A Toll
Guns Take Their Toll Posted by Dick Pellek in Tragedy On the road again..! Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Guns Take Their Toll In these times of a national subconscious fear about the next mass shooting, we all...
Continue reading
  2206 Views
  1 Comment
2206 Views
1 Comment

Guns Take Their Toll

Guns Take Their Toll
On the road again..! Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Guns Take Their Toll In these times of a national subconscious fear about the next mass shooting, we all find ourselves choosing up sides regarding our own views about...
Continue reading
  1691 Views
  1 Comment
1691 Views
1 Comment

Martin Richard World Flag Campaign

Martin Richard World Flag Campaign
Could This Poster Become a World Flag? In the aftermath of the Boston Bombings let's start a campaign to create a world flag to honor the legacy of Martin Richard. The flag should be designed exactly like the poster in the image below. As with the social media which resulted in...
Continue reading
  2169 Views
  4 Comments
2169 Views
4 Comments

On The Topic of Death...

  On The Topic of Death …             It is natural for the living to seriously contemplate death from time to time.  Very few will challenge the fact that in this life, youth is the natural beginning and death is the natural end.  The only real "experts" on death… I suppose…...
Continue reading
  2081 Views
  0 Comments
2081 Views
0 Comments

Human Tragedy as Seen by a Child

When I was in first grade President Kennedy was shot and ultimately died...

Continue reading
  1620 Views
  1 Comment
1620 Views
1 Comment

Green Apples, or Worse?

Ruth remembers, as a young girl, how she and her brother, Joseph, loved to climb apples trees and eat green apples but after one such experience, Joseph became very ill and almost lost his life.
Continue reading
  1546 Views
  0 Comments
1546 Views
0 Comments

A Web of Destruction

A Web of Destruction Down inside the soul of every man and woman is good and evil.  One characteristic overshadows the other, and usually by a large margin.  For some, evil is the primary inhabitant.  Good is only occasionally allowed to rear its head.  The souls of these are dominated by...
Continue reading
  984 Views
  5 Comments
984 Views
5 Comments

September 11, 2001

Our home was in San Diego at Mesa Village. I don't know recall why, but I stayed home that day from work, I am pretty certain it was a migraine.  Cody was 11 and Evan was almost 9 and I had taken them to school and went home to go back to bed.  When I...
Continue reading
  1568 Views
  1 Comment
1568 Views
1 Comment

9/11 and "Pearl Harbor."

My wife and I were sitting in our living room when our youngest son called and told us to turn on the TV.  We watched in stunned disbelief as fire and smoke billowed from the first-struck tower and then in complete incredulity as the second airplane hit the other tower.  We...
Continue reading
  1763 Views
  5 Comments
1763 Views
5 Comments

September 11

We were living in Houston in 2001.  Thinking our stay there would be brief, I temporarily stepped outside my profession and took a part-time job at a nearby travel agency. I had been an agent years before and thought it would be fun and good for a few travel perks. On the morning of...
Continue reading
  2033 Views
  4 Comments
2033 Views
4 Comments

11 September 2001

11 September 2001
The day started out like most school days.  I got up early and had a good breakfast, and did my fifteen mile commute to Centennial Middle School where I taught eighth grade integrated science.  But this was not a normal school day, for the students were not at school.  Provo School...
Continue reading
  2320 Views
  3 Comments
2320 Views
3 Comments

Where I was on 9-11

It was an exciting day for me as I was anticipating a conference call with a potential new client for my business, LTA Media. I was pacing, waiting for the call  in the living room of our lake house at Rarity Bary in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The...
Continue reading
  1691 Views
  2 Comments
1691 Views
2 Comments

A Mother Never Forgets

When you ask, as I know you will, "What did you do with the gift of me?" I want to have an answer.

Continue reading
  2990 Views
  0 Comments
2990 Views
0 Comments

Big Will Walker’s House

Big Will Walker’s House
Big Will Walker’s House                   Big Will Walker’s house was a three room log house with two large rooms and a side room used as a bedroom.   A big fireplace heated the house and the cooking was done on a cook stove.   The household furnishings were either carried...
Continue reading
  1747 Views
  0 Comments
1747 Views
0 Comments

Russell Gregory

Russell Gregory
    Russell's son Charles Gregory with son's wife Celia Gregory   Russell Gregory   Russell Gregory was my great-grandfather four times removed, who settled into Cades Cove after 1818.   The American government removed the Cherokee Native Americans and made the cove available to white settlers.   Russell started his farm and...
Continue reading
  13580 Views
  1 Comment
13580 Views
1 Comment

9-11 Reflections

Today is the 9th anniversary of the tragic 9-11 attack and I found myself watching the minute by minute replay on NBC this morning. I'm surprised at how emotional I got and in many ways I'm glad I was able to re-experience it as it happened. I remember the day it...
Continue reading
  2064 Views
  0 Comments
2064 Views
0 Comments

A Heartwarming Story of Loss and Comfort

Our son’s voice radiated excitement. “We’re getting a dog!”   How different from the voice on the phone a few weeks before when I answered to hear deep, guttural sobbing. Ken* choked out the terrible news: “Mary* has another tubal pregnancy.” That was their fifth loss in their 10 years of...
Continue reading
  1908 Views
  0 Comments
1908 Views
0 Comments

Grieving Pregnancy Loss

Your life entwined with mine For such a short span of time. The anticipation of you filled me with hope, With dreams, with pleasure. Then you were gone. Forever you will be part of The story of my life.—Ronda Knuth Pregnancy loss may come as a stillbirth, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or...
Continue reading
  1879 Views
  0 Comments
1879 Views
0 Comments

On a Personal Note

Delightfully hectic are words that sum up life at Sunrise Senior Living at Pinehurst in Denver, Colorado where I live out my love on a daily basis. Phone calls, scheduling appointments, baking cookies, popping popcorn, braiding hair, moderating life and managing forty-million to-do's constantly popping on the horizon - it keeps...
Continue reading
  1800 Views
  0 Comments
1800 Views
0 Comments