Pardon the weather-speak. I’m talking about the Blizzard of November 24-27, 1950. It was a POWERFUL storm with records that still stand. Snowfall was 27 inches for Marietta, 37 for Parkersburg. It was like a wintertime land-based hurricane. “Explosive cyclogenesis” means that the storm ...
Aldo Leopold, a man considered by many as the father of modern conservation wrote, “Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free.” That was around 1949, and I think that if Aldo could fathom what the world has become now, he would consider not only the cost to things natural, wild, and free, but also the welfare of mankind. Aldo’s world was shaped by events closer to his time like the passing of the ...
With winter comes cold, and with cold comes ice. Ice on our roadways adds danger to our daily commutes, it’s something that northern drivers learn to deal with, but it still causes havoc with our lives when it closes schools and cancels events. Ice on the rivers though, is a ...
We are on our January Florida vacation for the last two weeks, with some work mixed in. Shale Crescent is taking part in a U.S. Commercial Services Roadshow in Turkey in early February. We are making travel arrangements and scheduling meetings separate from the event with Turkish companies we are already working with. In addition, we continue to work with Canadian Roadshow and SelectUSA contacts, a dialog important to continue while we are in Florida. A couple Lynnda and I have known for decades is vacationing with us this week. Relaxing after dinner one evening, I asked everyone, ...
My youngest brother Ron and I were visiting on a call just before Christmas. I am the oldest of six boys. My parents had their hands full. Ron was the brother who picked up a hot charcoal when he was 2-years old, a story I told in a recent article. The lesson was to learn from your mistakes. Ron said, “You know there is another lesson from that incident. Do not trust your older brothers.” I was confused. Ron related a part of the hot coal story I was not aware of. Charcoals build up a layer of ash as they burn. They do not appear hot. To a 2-year old they appear soft and fluffy. ...
By Mark Wilmoth Things don’t always go according to plan. Back in 1737, Charles Wesley wrote a Christmas carol called Hark, How All the Welkin Rings, Glory to the King of Kings. Welkin is an old English word meaning “the sky” or “Heaven.” Wesley intended his carol to be sung to the tune you might recognize as “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” (Go ahead, sing it to yourself, the words fit!). But 20 years later, George Whitefield changed the words to Wesley’s song to read, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the newborn King.” Like most poets, Wesley didn’t ...
