In the wee hours of a chilly autumn morning, our Mama (Helen Santala Pickens) woke up my brother Kenny and me, where we were sleeping together upstairs in the old farmhouse north of Flagler, Colorado. Mama told us that our Grandpa, her father Herman Santala, was very ill and that our Daddy (William Charles Pickens) […]
Herman Santala’s Passing Read More »
I was being pelted by sand the size of BB pellets, thousands of them hitting me at once. Mommy screamed at me to get into the car, it’s a tornado…
Hugo’s little-known Tornado Read More »
My first telephone call: When I was really young, I remember that going into town to call my grandmother in Kansas was a very special adventure. I don’t remember what particular occasion was tied to my first memory of this, perhaps our trip to Kansas for Christmas. We didn’t have a phone at the farm in those days so when we needed talk to someone by telephone, we would have to make the long 14 mile trip into the small town of Flagler, Colorado.
Telephones in my life, and how they have changed. Read More »
US Naval life at sea, PIRAZ duty, Shore Patrol, sea stories of the USS Chicago CG-11 in WESTPAC, with some attention to the USS Long Beach, 1972-1974
Hard Feelings: the USS Chicago CG-11 battles the USS Long Beach CGN-9 Read More »
Even when we were very young Gary and I had basic chores that we had to do when we got home from school. The chores revolved around milking the cow, feeding the pigs and chickens. We also had to gather the eggs and carry them into the house. In the chicken house we kept a
Ken’s Memories of the Old Chicken House Read More »
As far back as I could remember, the chicken house was just an old, ugly building that no one could see. For the usual visitors to the farm, it was hidden from view by the house and by the trees around it, and, of course, by the well house and the barn. And the chicken house smelled to high heaven!…
The Old Chicken House & Things South Read More »
Tom Donovan, the man of many talents: biologist, builder, and friend.
The Legendary Tom Donovan Read More »
Memories from Colorado Last night I woke up to the wonderful smell of baking bread in our house. Earlier this week, because of the Texas 2021 Winter Arctic Outbreak, all the stores and businesses in our area had closed down, and we had run out of bread. So I started a loaf in our bread
I will update this blog as more happens. First came the pandemic. Second came the insurrection at the United States Capitol. Third came letting the power die over a large part of Texas…. Yesterday, February 15, 2021, at the beginning of this adventure, we did have power for a few more hours than some of
“Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…” — W.B. Yeats Read More »
A wild ride through the streets of Paris When Marilyn and I arrived in Paris two weeks before our 25th wedding anniversary in July 1997, we took a wild taxi ride from the Gare du Nord to the Left Bank and checked in to the Comfort Inn. (It was part of an American chain, so
Let me introduce someone we met in Paris — La Dame du Brésil Read More »
Sleeping in the cold, upstairs at the old farmhouse in Colorado
Memories of Sleeping in the Cold Read More »
Our reaction to the first day of snow in Austin. This was followed by a week of extremely cold weather that brought cripple Texas .
Snow in Austin, Texas ! ! ! Read More »
The first time that Kenny and Gary camped out by themselves was an adventure!
First Time Camping (Without Our Parents) Read More »
The old bunkhouse on our farm was a house that had been moved from one of the country schools near our farm. I think the teachers had lived in this house while teaching at the country school. There were two rooms in the house, probably for two teachers at the school, so that the students
