Mothers

  Sangamon translates from the Potawatomie language as “the place where there is plenty to eat” Coincidentally, I grew up in this same kind of place, even though I was in North Florida. Of course, growing up, I always just knew it as “home,” and there was always plenty to eat. At home, the fridge was always well-stocked and a […]

Drinking the Sangamon

  “Might I interest you in some refreshing Sangamon River water?” my new friend Keith Alexander asked as he pushed his mug my way. What was in his mug looked more like coffee with cream. Which in truth, it was. Keith is the Director of Water Management for the City of Decatur. Keith’s job is to extract and purify about […]

The end of television

A popup ad on my Facebook excitedly promised “The End of Television!”   Well, I got pretty excited because I’d been waiting a long time for the moment when we finally got sick of TV and did away with it once and for all. One of my favorite movies is “Network” where people chuck their TVs out their upper-story apartment […]

Order and Chaos

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get.  – Forest Gump I got the kayak on the river for the first time this year on that 50 degree day we had on Saturday a few weekends ago. Paddled upstream about a mile and a half. The river was up several feet, but still not over […]

Never Miss the Water

“You never miss the water ‘til the well runs dry.” – Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials Water is one of those things that seems like it’s everywhere. Until it’s not. Then it may be too late. Water belongs to none of us and yet belongs to all of us. If the water dries up, it dries up for all […]