What's in a name? William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous person to ask this question in Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene 2: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet". But my question is not referring to bridging a gap between disparate families. My question … Continue reading What is Your Name Worth?
Growing up in western Michigan I traveled to Lake Michigan with my family before I can even remember. Photographs of being at the beach is my only evidence for how young I was when I first experienced one of Michigan’s greatest natural resources, fresh water. I have also felt the lakes presence both directly and … Continue reading The Great Lakes: Keeping Them Clear and Keeping Them Here
Have you ever come across an odd spider, insect, or plant and thought, "Hmm, what is this thing?!" Enter iNaturalist. iNaturalist is available for Android and for Apple and is completely free to download and use. After downloading the app you can 'Make an Observation' by uploading a picture of the organism in question and … Continue reading iNaturalist
A soft, steady click. Not more than the light click of a spacebar. This little click is all it took to cause a week-long headache of a recurring battery failure on our Ford Explorer. A headache that peaked when the dead battery caused our son to be late for his first day of pre-school. The … Continue reading Are You Listening?
"No such thing as a free lunch". I agree, but in this scenario the "cost" is a 15-30 minute meeting which led to doubling a $250 investment. As simplistically as I can explain, here is how it works. Each month in the mail we get coupons from Valpak This summer I noticed two different banks … Continue reading Tried and Confirmed Free Money
This post is geared to the educators out there, so if you know a teacher pass this along! I have been blessed to teach with some great educators. Not just people good at their job, but individuals who are constantly pushing themselves to be even better. One of these individuals is Mr. Dave Stuart. Several … Continue reading These 6 Things
Anyone who has been paying any attention to local news in west Michigan knows that PFAS are a group of chemicals that have contaminated local water sources. PFAS are a known carcinogen and the area of PFAS contamination seems to just keep growing. Initially, Wolverine World Wide in Rockford was being singled out as the … Continue reading PFAS Aren’t the Problem
Last week my son was riding his bike on the sidewalk and shouted "Dad! A baby bird!". The week prior we had come across a dead baby robin on the sidewalk and had to have an impromptu "circle of life" conversation, so I was fearing another little bird had met the same fate. Moving closer … Continue reading Learning to Fly
A recent road trip allowed for some much needed audiobook time. This time around I gave a listen to The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin. Certainly in the non-fiction self-help genre, but an interesting listen from the start. In a nutshell there are four tendencies which people tend to naturally fall into. In the book … Continue reading The Four Tendencies
Spending time camping with family is an perennial gift I am blessed to experience. The separation from the daily grind at home truly helps with recharging the emotional batteries. Once again this year our family has spent a week at Aloha State Park in Mullet Lake in northern Michigan. Similar to several other state parks … Continue reading Looking Up
Starnado 