I like heading in to the mountains in autumn. The crowds are gone (I’m not counting the hunters), the mosquitoes are gone, the water is low if you have to cross it, the mist has moved in, the colors are glorious, the days are warm, and the nights aren’t too cold. I recently took Emma, …

We went out in the front yard yesterday and took family pictures, just like we did last October. We took pictures of everybody individually too, and will get them printed out nicely at Wal-Mart for $2.84 each. That saves us about $15 a pop over school pictures (saving us $60 for our school age kids …

We had a chestnut tree in the back yard when we lived in town. It was a beautiful tree and I remember the spiky chestnuts and the racoon Jess saw in its branches (the only coon I ever saw in a tree; almost the only coon I ever saw period). But there are no chestnut …

So here’s what Jessica has canned so far this season, as of last night:11 quarts of plum sauce56 quarts of pears15 quarts of chili sauce28 quarts of apple sauce21 quarts of elderberry syrup33.5 quarts of diced tomatoes30 quarts of tomato soup79 pints of salsa91 quarts of nectarines36 quarts of grape juice11 pints of nectarine jamWe …

Some of my immediate family gathered last week to spend some time together in the mountains. On Thursday evening we hiked up Rock Canyon past the old beaver farm, up past the abandoned mine with its cascading waterfall, and in the darkening twilight we ascended the switchbacks to Rock Lake in what became the darkest …

Well, I finally recovered our Utah vacation pictures off my camera, which now seems rather to eat pictures than give them up. I’ll have to get a new card with all my spare money. Anyway, one of them is this one of the Manti Utah Temple, where Jessica and I were married 14 years, 4 …

As denizens of the country, we have to haul our trash in to a county dump once a week or so. We don’t generate that much garbage; everything eatable goes either to the poultry or into the compost, and we recycle all newspapers, magazines, corrugated, pop cans, and unused items. We recycle not in order …

Well, yesterday we went to the local theme park. It was approximately 40,000 degrees outside, but we lived to tell the tale. My kids, like myself, have an abhorrence of any ride with a circular trajectory, when that trajectory is more violent than a Ferris wheel. Jess insisted that Emma ride a roller coaster this …

I cheerfully acknowledge that mine is not Approved Behavior for men my age. Men my age are supposed to have a boat and cruise around on the lake, wearing sunglasses and radiating superiority. They bear the required goatee and mandatory debt. They do NOT dive into the lake with the dog. They do NOT swim …

I had prepared a tirade against television yesterday, but a) I saw that it was too abrasive (someone might conceivably have found some use for television, somehow, perhaps) and b) I’ve already tiraded against it, in a somewhat more equanimous tone. But I did want to post this image, which I created with help from …