Want One of My Handcrafted Pens? Help a Vulnerable Child in Africa and I’ll Send You One! (Limited Offer)
I'm frequently asked if people can buy the pens or bowls I make on my lathe but I'm not in the habit of selling those items. However, I am willing to part with them if you'll help me send vulnerable children in The Outreach Program's Children's Centers in Africa on to...
Traveling 3,000 Years in 30 Miles: Africa Series, Part 6
In a 30-minute drive in Africa, you can go a state-of-the-art shopping malls to a Maasi village that hasn’t changed much in 3,000 years. I often wonder who is better off; those who live with all the latest amenities or those who live with only the basics? ...
Fly-fishing the Blue River in Colorado
Fishing is always the answer- even when it's not clear what the question is. - John Gierach I hate getting skunked fly-fishing for trout. But after a long day of standing in a river waving a big stick, the trout made me once again question my ability, sanity, and...
Rush Hour Cows
Waiting on a herd of cows to get out of the road in the rural hillsides of Nicaragua is like waiting on a teenage girl to get out of the bathroom in the morning. You can bang, yell, threaten, and bribe and they don’t move until their darn-good-and-ready. In fact, I’d...
My Heart Leaving Africa: What One Couple Has Done in Their First Ten Years of Retirement
A study done in a nursing home asked, “If you had life to live over again, what would you do differently?” Three basic answers were given: People would have risked more- they regretted not taking bigger risks People would have reflected more- they would have stopped...
My Heart in Africa: Making the World As a Village
As a country kid, I had an old mare horse they call a barn rat. I would saddle her up and mosey along the Kansas countryside away from home like I was riding a little old lady with a walker. Trying to get her to gallop was as difficult as getting Congress to work...
My Heart in Africa: At The End of The Day
I like what Africa gives to me. I enjoy the stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks beauty of the land and the splendid hospitality of her beautiful people. However, as wonderful as these are, the real power of Africa for me is her ability to help me sort out the important...
My Heart in Africa: Hakuna Matata
The withered, toothless old man still had a sparkle in his cataract-covered eyes. Shaking my hand for the umpteenth time, he mumbled, “Hakuna Matata.” It was delightful. I spent a lot of time singing Lion King songs while in Tanzania. There was a rousing bus chorus...
My Heart In Africa: Poverty- the Father of Creativity
If necessity is the Mother of Invention, poverty is the Father of Creativity. I have nice machines to do my laundry, but the ladies in the photo above do amazing work with dirty water and sandy soil. A few weeks in Africa traveling for Outreach made me aware of the...
My Heart in Africa: No Big “I’s” and No Little “U’s”
Dr. Deborah Turner, of Des Moines, introduces herself as a gynecologic/oncologist. Say that five times real fast. Not only can I barely say it, I’m not even sure if I’ve spelled it right. She specializes in cancer in women. Dr. Turner is also the 2013 Winter Team...