Today is our last day in Galena. Our accommodations are about a quarter mile from the home where U.S. Grant and his family lived. We could walk to the Grant place. It is on a bluff. The elevation affords a grand view of Galena. I consider that the high elevations around the town are…
It has been a while since visiting the Mississippi river town. It is close enough for a short road trip, a get-away from the day to day routine of home base. Everyone benefits from adventure. Travel brings different scenery, others whose way of life differs from our own. Who doesn’t desire to tell their…
The Beginning 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was…. There is always a beginning, at…
Yesterday was a mild, “feels like spring” day. Enjoying the sunlight, we took the Batavia River Walk for a stroll southward towards the dam by the old Challenge windmill factory. A visit to the dam is a reminder of the immense power of flowing water, moved by gravitational pull toward the Mississippi River ultimately…
Good discussion last night. The topic was, is revolutionary. Revolutions are violent paradigm shifts, alternative ways of perception, and of self understanding. Political revolutions are almost never a “good” thing, as the river of blood that results, provokes a corresponding violent, bloody response. Revolutions of the intellect, on the other hand are desirable, a…
I believe there is no ultimate meaning outside of humankind, no final answer to be discovered which provides a certain anchor, a firm grounding, a robust assurance that “all will be well” and that all human suffering is justified. Life itself is change; life is recognized by our self-awareness and reason in the form…
I mentioned that in graduate school that one requirement for graduation was that I compose a essay addressing the foundational belief commitments that I held at the time. A friend suggested that I post that statement. so I retrieved an age-tinged copy composed on a typewriter in 1983. I confess that I still hold…
Memory is a strange thing. Yesterday I dedicated enough time to sort through the folders of legal, financial and administrative paperwork archived on occasion of the passing of my mom and more recently my sister. There seemed to be a lot of evidence for events that were sudden and still feel less than real,…
I didn’t realize how much I looked forward to Tuesday evenings. As usual I walked into the Chatterbox Cafe in Long Grove and looked for a seat. The place always gets crowed on taco Tuesdays, cheap taco night. When the small tables are taken along two sides of the room, I find a place…
Yesterday was really cold, bone chilling cold. Desiring to move about, we decided to visit the Japanese Tea Garden on the Fabyan estate, a short drive by car from our home. After all the sun was out, the trees, stone lantern, and moon bridge would be spectacular with a cover of snow. Yes, the…
