Posts

A Weekend Of Firsts

My apologies to anyone who may have checked here last week and found nothing new. My resolve to update this weekly hit a bit of a snag and I missed last week, but I am back now with renewed resolve. On we go........ Back when I was in college, for awhile my brother and I were roommates. This created some rather interesting moments as we are very different people, but if we had not been roommates, I'm not sure if a couple of my national park adventures would have ever happened. This includes my first visit to world's first national park. My brother and I shared the apartment with two other guys, one of whom got engaged during the school year. We got along very well with Dave and his betrothed, Jeanine, and when they set the date they asked me if I would be willing to take pictures at their wedding. They had seen many of my photos and rather liked them, as I recall, and thought it would be nice to have someone they liked and trusted do the photography. I was rather hesitant at fi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Among Living Giants

When I was in college, I met a charming young lady from England. She was spending a year studying abroad before beginning university at home. The two of us found we shared many similar interests and soon we became good friends. I owe her much when it comes to my interest in literature, especially for introducing me to writers such as Thomas Hardy, Evelyn Waugh and Anita Brookner. Prior to meeting her, I had not read anything that was not science fiction or fantasy since I had graduated from high school. When I graduated, I decided that I was only reading things I wanted to read, not things I was 'supposed' to read. She helped open my eyes to a much greater literary world and reminded me that not all the books I read for my English classes in high school were bead (though me and William Faulkner still do not get along in spite of additional attempts to gain some appreciation for his work). I think it played a big part in my eventually earning a degree in English Literature; that...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Grandest Of The Grand

It was many years after my visit to Carlsbad Caverns before I again visited a national park. This does not mean that I did not spend time outdoors exploring the natural places around me. My grandfather had awakened my passion for nature, geology, and fossils and that has never gone away. My parents have also always made sure that we learned about the natural and historic places around us, so our road trip to our new home in Albany, Georgia meant that we stopped when time allowed. I remember visiting the Battleship Alabama and the submarine Drum when we went thru Mobile, for example. Once in Georgia, there were trips to places like the Kolomoki Indian Mounds, the Andersonville POW Camp from the Civil War (where my younger brother began his fascination with the War Between The States), Wakulla Springs in Florida, and the Okefenokee Swamp. I particularly remember Okefenokee because of one event that was very exciting for me at that time. We arrived at the Okefenokee visitor's center...
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome To My Adventures

I was lying in bed a few nights ago musing about how different things have been lately and how much I have missed being able to just pick up and go places. I live in Utah, home of five very beautiful national parks and many other scenic natural wonders. My wife and I normally spend as much time as we can each year visiting these magnificent places, but it seems like it has been forever since we were able to. My personal health issues last year forced us to cancel three camping trips and the COVID-19 pandemic has made venturing outside something of a risky experience so far this year. As I was thinking about all this, the thought came to me...write a blog about your love for, and adventures in, the national parks you have visited. My first thought then was, 'Write a blog? Is that still a thing anymore in the world of Instagram and Twitter? Besides, who would want to read about my experiences? What makes me that interesting?' I answered myself by saying, 'I don't know i...
Post a Comment
Read more