by Tony Braida
The following blog was written by a good friend of Kim’s, Tony Braida, an international businessman, Regional Manager for an international business firm. He regularly travels to Latin America, Canada, and the Caribbean.
In my position, I use different languages. I speak six languages. Of course, English is my first language, the [...]
by Todd Onken
Our friend, Todd Onken, is a retired smokejumper1 for the U.S. Forest Service2. He and his wife have been living and traveling for three years in China where she teaches in a private school in Beijing, and he studies Chinese language and culture.
It’s only mid-July and already the western United States is once [...]
by Davis Folkerts
A pipe organ is a keyboard instrument.1 The musical sounds are produced when pressurized air2 blows through pipes3. The pipes range in size from 16′ (4.9 meters) or even sometimes 32′ (9.75 meters) for the lowest pitches4 to pipes smaller in diameter than a ball-point pen and only a few inches (approximately one-half [...]
This morning my daughter Kim said to me, “Hey, Mom, you’re finally hip!” Over the years she has referred to2 me in many ways, but never as hip. As a teenager she often told me I was too strict3 because I insisted on certain hours4 for her and her brother to return from places, or [...]
Our spring season1 this year has been a cool, rainy and stormy one, so I was pleased a day or two ago to see the first ripening2 of our strawberries3 in the back yard. It is about two weeks later than usual, but that is also true for the rest of the plants. We [...]
We like to cook using our outdoor grill1 when the weather is nice. It is located2 outside the door leading to our office area and is quite convenient3 for us. We have a cement patio4 there and even if the yard is a little muddy5 sometimes, we can grill without getting our feet dirty too. [...]
Almost every spring since I was a child I’ve been involved one way or another with spring cleaning. My mother thought that spring cleaning had to include a complete change of curtains on all of the windows in the house where I grew up. She would take them all down, carefully launder1 them, and then [...]
Whenever I travel, I wear a strange looking necklace2 that people often ask me about. I tell them that it is my talisman1. What is a talisman? According to my dictionary, it is the following: “an object which you believe has magic powers to protect you or bring you luck.” American Indians3 and Eskimos4 also [...]
As I celebrated another birthday, I couldn’t help1 reflecting on2 how one’s attitude3 changes toward his/her birthday over the years. I know mine certainly has.4 When I was young and growing up in the agricultural5 state of Illinois my mid-August birthday always coincided6 with the Illinois State Fair7, held in the capital city8 of Springfield, [...]
On my Independence Day blog I wrote about our special ice cream treats1. Then yesterday I found out in the newspaper that July is National Ice Cream Month2. In 1984 President Ronald Reagan made the decree3 and even named the third Sunday of July as Ice Cream Day. Knowing us, I am sure we will [...]