Sometimes I just crave banana nut bread. I imagine a fresh slice with light butter next to steaming cup of coffee. I give little hints to the ladies about that from time to time. “Sure would love some banana nut bread one of these days.” I frequently say to the girls. Lois always says the […]
Summer Evenings
One late spring evening my son and I fished a popular spot on the Muskegon River without success or any sign of fish. The sun was coming down the sky and we knew it would be dark in a little over an hour. We looked at each other and in wordless agreement waded toward the […]
Good Smells
What are some of your favorite smells? I love the smell of steaks on the grill. I love the scent of new-mown hay on a summer evening. The breeze that billowed the curtains in the farmhouse where Lois and I played house when we were first married was hay-scented breeze. I love to drive slow […]
Training Sons to “Take Hold”
Here are a couple pictures of Dan and Wes, our younger sons. When I wrote the article they were a few years older than the first picture. This summer the bottom picture was taken. Photographic evidence of them “taking hold.” Have you ever had trouble training your young sons to “take hold” of a task […]
Enjoy Life Now
Later this month we are planning a trip to Bois Blanc Island in the Straits of Mackinaw. It will be an adventure. Years ago, when the children were small, I dreamed about being with the family in God’s creation. Here is a story a wrote ten years ago about something that happened about 20 years […]
Awaiting the Date
Here is a classic re-posted from 2001 Working in my study one summer afternoon I found myself struggling to concentrate. At the time my charge was a small country church near a cemetery bordered in back by a stream. I thought a walk would do me some good and refresh my powers of concentration. Picking […]
I Had No Idea
It’s been a very long, very hard winter, but spring has finally come. Monday was the last day of March and it dawned clear and warm. It was sunny and spring-like and it was opening day of baseball season for the home-town Detroit Tigers. Everyone was wearing their Tigers hats and shirts and jackets. There […]
Goose Attack!
A Classic Re-post from 2004 I have always loved Canada Geese. I think they are beautiful birds. I love to stand outside on a cool autumn evening and listen to them honk by low overhead. I love to see their silhouette pass before an autumn moon. I’m not sure geese feel the same way about […]
Pulling off An Adventure
A Classic Re-post from 2002 If all has gone well we will be completing our 2013 North Manitou Manly Man Revival by the time you read this and we will be heading back downstate with stories to tell. A few weeks ago I noticed that half of my son’ summer college break was over. Sitting […]
Packing for An Adventure
Classic Re-post from 2002 Last summer we went on an adventure. On the evening of July 3rd headed north along the west coast of Michigan to the Lelanau Peninsula. Our destination was the quaint little village of Leland. On the morning on July 4th we would take the ferry to North Manitou Island for a […]