Meadowlark is alive. That was obvious from the moment we walked in the door.
Independence Day in Chicago Long Ago
July 4, 2025
Blog
Come back with me to the1940s era in Chicago. During the first few days of July, my younger brothers and I walked to the neighborhood Woolworth’s store to buy a very important item for our Fourth of July celebration. We had to make our purchase no later than July 3, for all businesses closed on Independence Day.
by Noel Stanton
My grandfather Fred Sheldon drove things for a living. At age 17, he was already driving a horse trolley through the streets of Oneonta, a small city in upstate New York. When the U.S. armored cruiser Maine mysteriously sank in Havana harbor in February 1898, he was 23 years old and working for an Oneonta livery stable, driving every wheeled vehicle they had, including a hearse.
Always honors Mother Earth.
Bend, sow, and receive
- NJB
Webster’s definition for the word “garden” just about covers everything: a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, vegetables, or herbs are cultivated. Or, “a piece of ground or other space commonly with ornamental plants, trees, etc., used as a park or other recreational area, e.g., as an arboretum.” Or, “any beautiful, pleasing, restful piece of land.”
Janet called me out of hiking retirement before we were actually married. She arranged for us to go on a Sierra Club organized hike in North England, from St. Bee’s Head on the Irish Sea, to Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea. This was not a backpacking trip, but a series of day hikes with day packs. Our luggage was carried each day to our place of lodging for that night by our “sag wagon.” We went in late June 2008, married only a half year at that time. The tour also included a driving tour to Hadrian’s wall, just to the North and a day following the hike in York.
by Noel Stanton
1956. My generous parents gave me a 12-foot rowboat for high school graduation. It was a Penn Yann Cartop, a beautiful, somewhat fragile-looking craft with delicate ribs and thin planking of varnished cedar covered by sea-green watertight canvas. Three seats, two sets of oarlocks; weight without oars only 60 pounds.
Each child inherits
A lifetime of rich learning.
Life goes as do we.
— NJB
Speech and language disorders are common in adults. Some people have difficulties understanding language, whereas other people have trouble expressing themselves. Some people have difficulties with both. Be a good communication partner!
To help someone understand you better, do the following:
Flowers speak to us,
With many colors and scents.
But they say much more.
NJB