My Portfolio

I rarely donate to organizations outside of my church donations that go to tithing, fast offerings, humanity projects, assisted temple patron, and perpetual education fund.  However, for the past few years (at least while we have been in Afghanistan in war) I have made an annual donation to the Disabled American...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   W is for Wales Wales has a special place in the dreams of the Footloose Forester.  It’s mostly about flying.  Ever since the first time he left the ground in a flying machine, the Footloose Forester has had hundreds of...

  On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   To Russia, With Gloves When we think of Siberia, we imagine a cold and desolate place, but nothing shocked him as much as seeing frozen streambeds in the middle of October.  Flying over Siberia was as close as...

  On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek    H is Honduras    After getting a small grant to research a few selected teak plantations in Central America, compliments of the Organization for Tropical Studies, the Footloose Forester chose Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras.  The decision was...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   H for Hungary   Most people wonder about where they came from, or where their grandparents came from. The Footloose Forester was no different in that regard. In the case of his grandparents on his father’s side, the...

If you picture a valley as a bowl or a long trough between lines of mountains, Caney is not in a valley.    But Urban S. Gibbs, a patriarch who had the stern, unforgiving look of John Brown, was President of our bank and keeper of Caney’s money.  He called his bank...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek       M is for Mali Going to Timbuktu was perhaps the first reference that the Footloose Forester ever heard about an African city, when he was still in knee pants. That is because his mother kept repeating the name...

    If I could choose an ethnicity to be born in, I would definitely ask to be born a Polynesian!  In my experience there are three  main reasons I would choose this.  First, the people are the most warm and loving I have ever known.  They care.  There are no attachments...

In the “dark ages” of mid-twentieth century life was pretty much an “assume your own risk” proposition whether at work, at home, or at play. There was no OSHA, no safety requirements for toys, games, child seats, helmets and so on, and very few rules or laws dealing with personal behavior...

  On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Let’s Go Shake The Mango Tree   Mango cubes in his breakfast cereal were more tastebud satisfying and aromatically pleasing than sliced bananas ever were. It took decades of taste testing, mixing of ingredients, and sample bowls of...

My favorite black and white show was really a movie and it was only half in Black and White....The Wizard of Oz.  It was a movie my mother enjoyed watching with me.  Most of my growing up years, mom didn't have a lot of time for TV, keeping house for three...

Black and White TV shows. Our grandchildren would ask "what is that? so here goes my description of more of a wonderful life. Wow, we did not live in a city so it was a long time before we received any TV transmission.  I was married before we had television, but...

Last Sunday the Sr. Pastor at my church taught on the Sovreignty and Providence of God!  One of my favorite topics, and also a lesson I need often, as I tend to query Why way more often than the average bear.  You would think that my family history would have innoculated...

My Grandmother was born in Austria, Anna Stefkovic, Andreansky, August 3, 1884 and died January 5, 1968 in Irvington, NJ. She's buried at the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery in New Jersey.  Anna Stefkovic, immigrated to this country, as I have been told on a ship. I am not sure if she married...

  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Dominican Republic     As a country right next door to Haiti, and occupying about 2/3 of the Island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic was also a pleasure in contrasts.  The Footloose Forester went there...

      Television was something very unusual when I was growing up.  In fact, my grandparents had one of the first sets in Las Vegas, New Mexico because it was a retirement gift from his friends on the railroad.  Of course it was black and white but we didn't know about colored...

My youngest daughter, Melanie, would have enjoyed 'The Howdy Doody Show' as a ventriliquist in her own right!

  On the road …again!! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   M was Macau These fleeting decades after Macau had been absorbed by the People’s Republic of China, one wonders if the map makers made it easier or harder to find that former Portuguese enclave...

  On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   On Growing Things   Some farmers around the world think of themselves as unskilled peasants.  On the other hand, some city dwellers think of farmers as providers of the riches of the land.  The land itself can...

On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   G for Greece Greece was on his bucket list of places to see well before the popular concept of “things to do and things to see before one kicks the bucket” was made into a movie.  As a...