My Portfolio

On January 1 2011 I decided to read technical information every day in pursuit of my dreams. Alarmed, I then realized that it is just wrong to make that kind of commitment without having completely read the Bible at least once. So I'm doing both. I'm reading The One Year Bible,...

My second son, Lloyd was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and the doctor recommended that we move to a warmer, dryer  climate for the winter.  In November 1951, our family of four children (Goldie, Lloyd, Steve, and Janice) moved to Mesa, Arizona.  One day, Lloyd came home from kidergarten crying his eyes...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   T is for Tanzania Many people know that Mount Kilimanjaro is located in East Africa and that there is snow at its summit. At 19,341 feet above sea level, the top of Kilimanjaro is a sacred...

In the first few years after “The War” every American wanted either something they had been denied during “The War” or something they’d never had.  We teen agers were no exception.   There were, of course, some fads that came and went, such as boys insisting on a pair of boots –...

I have truly never made a New Year's resolution. Probably I gave some thought to one or two, but I knew I'd never keep them, so it was just dismissed from my mind! Consequently, there isn't much to write about this topic! Most likely I have reflected over the past year,...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia      Chronicles of a Footloose F orester By Dick Pellek            Originally published on 2 January 2012                 A Story of War Joe Fodor is going on 90 now, but you would never...

New Year’s Day, 1954 found me bundling up the few belongings the Army allowed me to have into my reasonably nice looking 1948 “Kaiser.”  “Kaiser” being one of the several new car company start-ups that bloomed and died in the years following “The War.”  I was officially a tuba player in...

This week’s prompt is: Do you make New Year resolutions? If not why? If so, what are your 2012 resolutions? First off - Happy New Year!! And happy 2012! Most nights, I stay home - avoiding the drunks on the road.  Last night, I went to dinner with my best friend,...

As a young girl, I loved to visit my grandparents.  I would ride my bicycle to their house.  We lived on 7th East in Salt Lake City, Utah and they lived on Leland Avenue, about three or four blocks away. I remember that my grandfather [Folkert T. Folkers] often sat in...

Grandpa Folkers would sit hunched over in his rocking chair.  He was quite a heavy man.  He stood a head taller than grandma Folkers who was quite short.  It was wintertime, and he was sitting in the chair.  There was no heat in the bedroom, and the kitchen had the cookstove,...

As 2011 comes to a close and a new year begins, it is an opportunity to reflect on past experiences, unachieved goals, and wishes to improve.  Often, people take this time to set New Year's Resolutions.  Too often, these resolutions are short-lived and by mid-March they are all but forgotten.  As...

Pig Roast, 11/19/2011

       Story Prompt:  As you look back, what are the three most incredible changes you have witnessed? I have chosen three areas of most incredible changes I have witnessed in the sixty-seven years I have lived.    These changes are sometimes for good, and at other times not so.  The changes that...

  Family Christmas 2011

  Family Christmas #3

It is difficult to limit myself to only three incredible changes that I have witnessed in my, now, 60 years. I have seen the invention of television, stereo record players, transistor radios, toaster ovens, electric flying pans, electric knives, microwave ovens, computers, iPods, iPads, MP3 players, central heat and air-conditioning, movie...

  Charley Pride Christmas gag gift!!

 In December, 1994 we were living in St. Charles MO.  I was working on an irregular basis as a “temp” paralegal for a large law firm in downtown St. Louis and as a substitute teacher in two suburban school districts.    Anne worked as a secretary at The Jewish Center for the...

1.  Technological mobility and the ability to connect with each other has gone through the roof.  As a kid growing up in North Conway, NH back in the late 70's-80's I don't remember a single cell phone, ipad, nextel walkie talkie, bluetooth or computer let alone a laptop in my home. ...

On October 4th, 1957, my first year as a teacher and one day after my 25th birthday,  we were "treated" to a beeping sound being sent from space by a man-made satellite.  The first of the many that now roam about the earth. It was called "Sputnik," and, God forbid, it...