My Portfolio

Spend 36 years in “The Vineyards of Education” and unless you were somehow completely insensible to your surroundings you will have a truckload of incidents, some humorous, others poignant, and a few (although too many) tragic, lurking in your memory.   I began my career in September of 1957 as a band...

The question " What do I know about the faith of my grandparents?" is a powerful question. I have asked myself many times, "Can I live up to the legacy of the faith they exhibited?" "Can I pass to my future generations an example of the faith that they showed in...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   For the Birds   Just when he thought he had seen everything at his bird feeders outside the rear bedroom window, the Footloose Forester yesterday got a treat that he would never have predicted. The previous morning as he...

  On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Magic Mushrooms   My father told me about wild mushrooms way back, but it was a Hungarian immigrant in New Jersey who convinced me that if you know what to look for, you need not get sick by...

Sometimes unexpected joys come to us that are so far from being anticipated that they completely blindside us. I suspect God might specialize in using our children to bless us in this manner. During our son Daniel's growing up years I frequently put on my best (admittedly awful) British accent by...

On the road....again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Montmartre, 1963   Joe Pellek Enjoyed Watching The Parisians From His Table At The Right Once again, thanks to the Internet and the power of sharing photos attached to e-mail messages; and those found on web pages, the Footloose...

We attended services at the Methodist church sporadically and we socialized with the minister's family who happened to live on our block.  We had friends from many walks and backgrounds but matters of faith were rarely discussed in my family of origin.  It wasn't that my parents didn't have beliefs--they just weren't a topic...

I love the holiday season. Family gatherings, food, friends, more food--I even love shopping and gifting. But as much as I enjoy the holidays my favorite month of the year is January. There's just something about opening a fresh, new calendar with all those days ahead that fills me with optimism...

On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   On Writing a Paper, or a Report, or a Book, or a Post-It-Note   People who have writing chores as part of their job descriptions have to follow certain guidelines when it comes to attaining clarity, information, accuracy,...

I am going to write a biography of my grandfather.  But first I must learn how to write such a story.  So I look to my favorite author, David McCullough, for guidance.  Why not learn from the best.  He has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams.  So...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Looking for Suzie When we lived in Honolulu, Thu and the Footloose Forester chose to seek out a church where we would be comfortable. The very old, traditional, but decidedly frumpy cathedral in Waikiki had far fewer parishioners...

My grandparents on my Father's side...George and Lillian Cormier.   My Grandparents on my Mother's side...Wallace (Wally) and Helen Brackin.  Oh, and that's my brother on the left and me on the right at our home in Conway N.H.  Harvey Blake Rental.   On my Mother's side of the family my...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek  Telling Stories With Pictures A book with pictures always adds something positive to the storyline. Short stories usually don’t have pictures but that does not mean that pictures or sketches don’t suit the short-story genre. With the ever changing sophistication...

On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek  Obelisk in Shadow Some people look at a rock outcrop and just see rocks. Others look and don’t see anything, and they say so. Yet others look and see the manifestations of natural history; they see various shapes, colors,...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek         H is for Hawaii When it was over, the Footloose Forester blurted out in a public forum that the past six years were the shortest years in his life. They were probably the happiest years, as well; those halcyon...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Gorée Island, Senegal During a 2-month extension of the Environmental Impact Statement phase of the Senegal River Basin Project, wife Thu joined with Footloose Forester and packed her things for a new adventure. We were lucky enough to get...

On the road… again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek    Living on the Terminal Moraine   After a short one-page article about terminal moraine boulders in Netcong, New Jersey was published in the geology section of About.com in April 2011, it now becomes apparent that...

On January 1 2011 I decided to read technical information every day in pursuit of my dreams. Alarmed, I then realized that it is just wrong to make that kind of commitment without having completely read the Bible at least once. So I'm doing both. I'm reading The One Year Bible,...

My second son, Lloyd was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and the doctor recommended that we move to a warmer, dryer  climate for the winter.  In November 1951, our family of four children (Goldie, Lloyd, Steve, and Janice) moved to Mesa, Arizona.  One day, Lloyd came home from kidergarten crying his eyes...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   T is for Tanzania Many people know that Mount Kilimanjaro is located in East Africa and that there is snow at its summit. At 19,341 feet above sea level, the top of Kilimanjaro is a sacred place to many...