My Portfolio

Judith moved to Darwin from Adelaide to live with her parents and younger siblings in 1970.  She soon was gathered in by workmates and friends and started socialising with the young people of Darwin.  Food was all trucked in to Darwin at that time, and there were not many places to...

Judith was asked by her parents to return to Brisbane from Canberra just before her 21st birthday.  She celebrated her 21st birthday with family and friends.  Her mother arranged the catering and made the birthday cake.  On her return to Brisbane, Judith worked in the Department of Air and flatted in...

The dictionary defines "Beauty" as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Inspired by an article in a professional magazine, I had the opportunity to work with a dynamic first grade teacher, Connie Parsons,...

One of the gloomy realities that came with my retirement was the economic necessity to give up my beloved little red airplane. Most people knew her (Like ships, all airplanes are of the feminine persuasion) as an AA1A Grumman Trainer - Not me. Once I got to know her and understood...

Annette talks about her passions in life, including reading and making fairy costumes

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Talk About Your Low-Hanging Fruit   Usually, the expression, “picking the low-hanging fruit” has pejorative implications.  It suggests the harvesting of what is easy to harvest; before having to exert oneself by going after the more inaccessible fruit...

When I was growing up, I especially loved the fall season when we could "sleep cold" with the windows open, and the sound of a gentle autumn rain lulled one to sleep. Using long cane fishing poles, we used to "thresh" the pecan trees along the street in front of the...

     When I was four, we moved from our house at 1704 Paseo de Vaca, the house my parents had built before they married and in which their wedding took place, and moved in with my paternal grandparents at 3 North Madison while our house was being built next door at...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose Forester    By Dick Pellek                                                     Schooling for Life The importance of school can never be forgotten.  Having the opportunity to attend school should not be taken for granted, and the Footloose Forester was more blessed than most people.  Perhaps he did take...

Alice recalls some of the news stories of the 1950's. Sir Thomas Playford the Premier of South Australia; the death of King George VI, the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the aboriginal tenor Harold Blair (pictured) are among those she mentions.

Bill has his first crush on a girl at the local swimming club at age 16.  However, his love of sailing took precedence over the next few years and then at 22 he went to serve in World War II.  Bill felt very lost when he returned from the war at...

Joyce talks about her early teenage years, her first romance with a boy named Ray and the social normas of the 1950's.   

Judith shares with us a very poignant story of her first love - a young boy named Geoff who she shared her life with from a very early age until she was 7 years old.  His family moved away, but he came back into her life as a close friend when...

Ruth tells us an interesting story of her mother's advice on the best place to meet a nice christian boy.  She then goes on to give us a somewhat amusing account of her first date and her first love.    

Margaret's argument when she first met Ted, eventually led to love, not at 1st sight, but at 5th sight.  They were engaged at Xmas 1944 and then married on 31st January 1945, when Ted was on embarkation leave prior to leaving to serve in the Navy in Australia.  

Margaret shares the story of her first kiss which made her angry.  It was her 2nd kiss that led to her first love which resulted in marriage and 60 years of happiness.

How far in the past does an event have to have occurred before it can be called “history?” I have no idea. But as for a man’s personal life and times it seems reasonable to say that the day he becomes an octogenarian he can be forgiven if he looks back...

When we were sitting at the edge of the Provo Temple fountain, I told Diane that I was not marrying her for who she was, but who she would become!  You see, the blessing is not in the being, but in the becoming. In a few days, we will have been...

Diane and I had been dating for just a month when we became engaged. This occurred at the front of the Provo LDS Temple where we were sitting around the fountain. As she opened the wrapping, she noticed a toy stuffed cow and inscribed upon its body were the words "To...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek Computer Learner Becomes a History Scholar This chronicle makes use of the “On the road….again!” letterhead above, not because it is a remembered tale about some brief sojourn of the Footloose Forester to an obscure destination in...