I did my back exercises earlier today and I feel better already. I’ve struggled with lower back pain periodically for over 30 years — as do many tall, heavy men, especially those who get out of shape, have sedentary and/or stressful lifestyles.  Happily, though, I didn’t get surgery.  Instead I discovered a “program” which has…

photo credit: minnemom In 1960, driving across Ohio on Route 40 with a group of fellow Boy Scouts, we pulled in Zanesville, OH and were greeted by a goofy looking bridge.   (“Go to the center of the bridge and turn left,” we were given for directions.)    A Historical Marker at one end declared,…

I’ve been helping an fellow I was friends with a LONG time ago — James Johnson — with a project he’s been supporting in Nicaragua.   It seems that a retiring schoolteacher from Connecticut, Louise Brunberg, was travelling in Nicaragua in the early 90’s, and she was appalled by the poverty and terrible educational conditions…

When we lived in Los Altos, we’d drive up Foothill Boulevard to where it turned up into the mountains. There is a big dam there, creating a nice reservoir — Stevens Creek Reservoir — around which there are several trails and parks.  (map).   We loved to go hiking there … and we still do…

From 1950 to 1955, Dad was stationed at the Chincoteague Naval Air Station, which was on the road from US Route 13 out to Chincoteague Island.  It forms my first memories.   Here is a Google Earth view of the area today. The facility was decommissioned by the Navy and used by NASA as their…

… from the Alcatraz weekend.