Two Week Album

Dry Run Creek in Hononegah Forest Preserve

     Capturing life moments in pictures is a way people have documented their personal history for many years.  In order to stay connected with the teaching that she loved, back when my kids were young, my wife taught others the art of creating photo albums out of the scads of pictures that most people had stashed in old shoe boxes under their bed or in down stair closets.  Through the company "Creative Memories" she was able to influence and help others to connect with their past as they made their way through the present and dreamt of the future.  It inspired me to have my own adventure photo albums. The old, blue, pullover jacket I wear as a shell, on cold winter days, has the Creative Memory logo on its left breast corner. It's a remnant of some good days of preserving stories caught on film.

     Two weeks have been preserved here in this blog as well; adventures caught and preserved during the last week of 2015 and the first week of 2016.  They are pictures of adventures with family, friends and while out searching the vast-land for my own personal peace of mind. I'll document them as if in an album; pictures with captions.

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2015

On Tuesday, January 29th, after we shoveled the driveway, my daughter Jodi and I went out to Roland Olson Forest Preserve and went cross country skiing.  She loves to ski, and so we take advantage of the snow when we can.  I grew up skiing as a kid and sharing that love is edifying.  With the base of ice, from the previous day's storm, and then a few inches of snow on top, the conditions were almost perfect.  We were the first people to make tracks on the back loop.  I enjoyed being able to break trail with 2 swaths from my skies, as I swooshed along with Jodi for about three and half miles on beautifully clear trails.

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On Wednesday, December 30^th, after getting up and going for a run, our family of four met my Dad at the movie theater to see the new movie: “Star Wars-The Force Awakens”.  It had great significance.  My Dad took both of my sisters and me to the original movies (episodes #4, 5, & 6) back in the day.  As I remember it, the movie (“A New Hope”) came to our town’s small movie theater.  My parents, however, weren’t too sure we should see it as they didn’t know too much about it, and it was rated PG.  I got a paperback version of the movie from a school book order and read it instead.  After my Uncle Rob took my Grand-dad & Grandma though, the decision was made that we could go see it.  By then, unfortunately, the movie had left our town.  In the 1970’s we didn’t have VHS or DVD players and so we had to wait for the movie to come back again; assuming it was good enough to recirculate.  Fortunately for us, “Star Wars” did!

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Thursday, December 31^st was the 27^th wedding anniversary for Cindy and me.  I spent the better part of the day under the kitchen sink after discovering a water leak under the sink the night before.  At first I thought about seeking help, but after looking it over I settled on trying to fix it myself.  Early in the morning I bought a new garbage disposal; the root of the problem.  I read through the directions when I got it home and laid out the necessary tools.  In addition to taking out the old disposal, I disconnected all of the piping, cleaned them out, and applied new putty to both of the drains before inserting the new disposal.  It worked out pretty slick considering I didn’t come in with a lot of confidence.  I finished off the afternoon’s daylight by running back out to Roland Olson by myself, to cross country ski a 3 mile loop.  It was a good way to end the day’s activities before we all got together with some friends for food and dodge-ball to celebrate the New Year.

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2016

Friday, January 1^st was New Year’s Day. 

I woke early and met my friend Louie, and about 10 other people, to run 6 miles on and around the Rock River Bike Path in downtown Rockford.  It was cold, but it was fun and has become a sort of tradition to kick off the new year.  That afternoon Jodi and I went back out to Roland Olson to

XC ski one more time.  It was cold and breezy but we had a good time putting in 3 or 4 miles both in the Preserve as well as on the linking trail that goes over to the Kinnickinnick Creek Conservation Area.  That afternoon Cindy and I took a walk in the neighborhood with the dogs under a beautiful sunset.

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On Saturday, January 2^nd my friend Scott and I went out for a hike with my dogs to

the river bottoms.  The sun rose over the horizon as we started out on the highland prairies.  We enjoyed talking and figuring out how to create log bridges to get both us and the dogs over some of the high water creeks that had formed in the bottoms as they drained off the oxbows.  We managed to stay relatively dry, and got a fire going from flint and steel in order to cook a great little brunch on the bank of the river.  It was a four hour excursion well worth the effort.  That afternoon my wife Cindy and I were able to get out to spend some time together and debrief from the year and Christmas Break as well as to celebrate our anniversary of two days prior.  It was simple but good.  We ate out and had a subway sandwich, and then took a walk at Hononegah Forest Preserve.

That night, as a totally spontaneous act, our entire family went to the theater to see the late night showing of “Star Wars” for a second time…it was a final family fling!

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School started again that following Monday…an adventure in and of itself!  Our school’s Environmental Club did go sledding after school on Wednesday, January 6^th.  The kids, about 60 or so of them, had a great time in perfect weather…it was just the right temperatures with just the right amount of snow to both walk through it and sled down on it.

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On Saturday, January 9^th my son Todd and I went to the woods with our dogs (Kati &

Kora).  Everything was wet from the rain the past few days.  Remarkably, the water level in the woods was down from the previous weekend.  We enjoyed each other’s company, and although we had a time of it getting the fire started, since everything was damp, we eventually did.  Todd said that the brunch we cook gets better every time he tastes it.  I’ve said it before and will probably say it again; nothing compares to a meal cooked over an open fire after a little work.  I used my new little “Emberlit” stove to heat up the water and then keep the food warm while we took some pictures to try capturing the moments.

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On Sunday, January 10^th we attended church.  Our pastor gave what I like to call his annual “State of the Union” address.  He reviews where we’ve been, challenges us and then shows us how we can move forward as both individuals as well as a

church.  Afterwards, in 7 degree temperatures with wind, I ran 8 miles on the snowy trails at Hononegah Forest Preserve. I was able to run without any aches and pains that I had been experiencing during my runs for the last few weeks.  It was encouraging and I felt great.  My running route in the preserve is beginning to feel very comfortable.  I can run it without really thinking about it.  At one point I had to throw down logs to hop across about twelve feet of flood water from the mouth of Dry Run Creek that flows into the Rock River at that point.

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PS – Today on Saturday, January 16^th I had an extra adventure outside of the adventures in the “Two Week Album”. 

I took my friend Justin to the woods for a quick hike and cookout before he attended his son’s basketball game (apparently an epic comeback from 10 points down).  Taking people to the woods is a fun thing to do.  I of course enjoy the company, but inviting friends into the position to be adventurous and experience life in a different venue is the most rewarding aspect.

I came back home and then went and ran 8 miles as part of the first official “long run” of a training schedule that will prepare me for a race this coming May.  The temperature was in the mid 20’s and sunny; a beautiful day.

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Episodes of adventure; they are remnants of some good days preserved as stories and caught on film.

See you along The Way…