We arrived on Friday afternoon ready for a spring‑like escape, with temperatures in the low 80s, clear skies, warm breezes, and the first blossoms sprinkling the forest. It felt like we were on the cusp of renewal. Then, on Saturday morning, everything changed. Jon awoke to the news alerts: President Trump announced that a joint…
This weekend, as we settled into our campsite, we found ourselves reflecting on a week of news that revealed much about who we are as a country and who we are becoming. The death on Tuesday of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the relative lack of attention was on our minds. House Speaker Mike Johnson…
This weekend was graced by the August full moon, known as the Sturgeon Moon, because late summer is prime sturgeon fishing season in the Great Lakes region, where these ancient fish have long been revered. Sturgeon are among the largest of the freshwater bony fish, with a lineage stretching back to the Jurassic period. Often…
This weekend found us attending the 26th annual Be Happy Chili and Wing Cook-Off at Loyd Park. We signed on as judges of the chili competition, which meant gathering with 30 other judges at mid-afternoon on Saturday to sample 11 entries. We were somewhat surprised at how they tasted more alike than distinctive. Another surprise:…
After last weekend’s long journey to Illinois, it was good to break away for a weekender at our beloved Loyd Park. We needed to reconnect with nature, unwind, and create lasting memories with our little Duke, who likely won’t be with us much longer. Spring’s lengthening days and warmer temperatures beckoned us to Site 8,…
A sure sign of spring is daylight saving time, which occurred this weekend. We reluctantly accepted losing an hour of sleep because it meant we could leave a little later on Sunday. As people who travel often, we appreciate the 7.5 months we spend in daylight saving time. In fact, we’re among the majority of…
Historically, the dog days of summer are the hottest, most uncomfortable days of the season, which have been associated with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, and bad luck. As luck would have it, we experienced unprecedented rainfall earlier in the week, which brought about a late-summer greening, and also oppressive humidity. This weekend, amid the dog days of…
It’s Easter, Passover, the middle of Ramadan, and Vaisakhi—an unusual confluence of holy days, yet a timely reminder of the common bond of humanity. We witness this each day, in the people we work with and in the students and faculty we serve. We are inseparably connected. In some ways we are all becoming Generation…
Another weekend with triple-digit temperatures found us camping at Loyd Park, where we enjoyed a shaded site and mild mornings with cool breezes off Joe Pool Lake. Most folks have the good sense to head toward cooler climates at this time of year, but our jobs keep us tethered to the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area,…
Jon’s cousins recently notified him to tell him they had discovered a vintage jug while sorting through their mother’s belongings. They thought we might be interested in adding it to our camping collection, perhaps by repurposing it as a lantern. Within a few days, the package arrived at our door, and we knew immediately we…
Garinns on the Go 