*As published in North Canton Living December 2025 The canopy was carefully examined and folded. Go Pros were checked and rechecked. The group moved carefully into line reminiscing about their more than thirty years of base jumping. I quietly followed snapping pics as...
*as seen in North Canton Living Magazine I sipped water and wiped my sweat as I sat in the shade watching the children dash from tiny faerie house to house. Their faerie house papers flapped in the breeze over shouts of “I found it!” The woods were deep and cool and I...
*As published in North Canton Living October 2025 My stomach grumbled at the heavy smell of fried dough and sugar. I took my place in line behind two moms with several small children clutching their personal Donut Trail flyers. They fidgeted as they pressed against...
*As seen in North Canton Living Magazine February 2025 The waves crashed against the pier with spray arching over the walk. The sky bright blue after several days of storms. In the distance, I could see Chicago across Lake Michigan seeming to float on the green water....
*As seen in the North Canton Living Magazine January 2024 The train whistle echoed through the hills as I edged closer to the abandoned building. I watched as people quickly crossed the tracks as the crossing guard arm came down. The train roared by with its full coal...
Entering the last of the four airplane hangers, I could feel my mouth fall open as I stared at the presidential airplanes. Not one but four presidential aircraft. After a day of so many types of aircraft, seeing four large planes in one building with room to spare, my head spun. I had only a half hour before closing so I made my way up the steps and through the immaculately preserved pieces of American history.
I watched the monitor as the elevator descended. The park ranger stood quietly by as my ears popped. 30, 40, 50 and so as the elevator ticked on. When we reached the bottom at 79 stories, the ranger reminded us of the low light and gently directed us to the beginning of the self-guided tour. I adjusted my backpack and cane as I stepped into the gloom of Carlsbad Caverns.
I drove the narrow winding road leaving the dessert and entering a white wall of sand. The dunes towered above me with their grains blowing in a constant river of white across the road. The brilliant blue cloudless sky met the white in a glare that confounded the senses.
I shivered in the massive sterile feeling room. Surrounded by large pieces of equipment, I stared up at the domed ceiling soaring high above. I could feel the airflow as the aperture opened and the dome rotated on giant rolling pins. The 160-ton Harlan Smith Telescope hung over us. I could imagine the astronomers at night programming in the coordinates and beaming the image to a distant astronomer in another part of the world. A fellow tour group member beamed as he pressed the dome’s giant stop-and-go buttons under the watchful eye of our tour guide.