Backpacking after 40

Is backpacking still a valid way to travel as midlife approaches?

Three Unusual Facts About the Battle of Arras

The World War I battle proved unique

A Den of Thieves and a Fig Tree.

Thoughts on the story of Jesus and the moneychangers.

I remember, from Sunday School, the story of Jesus and the moneychangers. From memory, it went something like this: after Palm Sunday, Jesus went to the…

How West Virginia Became a State

A quick review of how the Mountain State broke from the south during…

Red Hill Mining Town

The brief meaning of U2’s classic song from “The Joshua Tree”

In 1984, the British National Coal Board — with the support of Margaret Thatcher — closed an array of unprofitable mines. Especially impacted were Wales, the Midlands and the North. The National Union of…

How Conrad and Achebe Battled over Africa

“Heart of Darkness” and “Things Fall Apart” give readers two very different perspectives of the continent.

I’m reading criticism of Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella “Heart of Darkness.” It’s one of my favorite stories. It’s a tale…

Ruminations on Ken Burn’s “The Civil War”

27 years after its first airing, I have some thoughts

Last night, I was re-watching Ken Burns’s The Civil War on Netflix. I feel It holds up reasonably well after 27 years, even by today’s…

Autism Day

How a lost balloon changes everything.

The best SimCard Wiki, Ever