My Portfolio

Mothers “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.”                                                                        Italian film actress and mother - Sophia...

In August, 1958 at the age of fourteen years (4), I was given the opportunity to spend a few days in Salt Lake City, Utah with my grandmother Thiessens, affectionately nicknamed "Mumpsy".  This was to be a special outing, just Mumpsy and me. As we walked along Main Street, I remember...

I was really reluctant to start the engine in the old car.   You see, I had a big problem.  Actually it was a two-part problem I faced as I sat there next to the gas pump of a C-Store in Tucson.  The first part I couldn’t do anything about because somewhere...

Henry Pineau could do everything well. He played semi pro baseball and was a fantastic golfer. He was about as handy as a man could be and succeeded at most of his bright ideas. Henry was my Grandfather, my mother's father. We called him,  "Gammie." I remember as a child going...

Dolly passed away peacefully on Saturday morning after a long struggle with declining health.  She was a vibrant woman, funny & opinionated. Dolly lived in the Bronx until she moved to Spring Hill, Florida. She was the widow of Manuel Fuenmayor and had two children. This is Dolly on the left,...

One of the most important factors affecting the preservation of photographs are the considerations of storage and display conditions. This includes what they are stored or enclosed in, the area in which they are stored, and the manner in which they are displayed. STORAGE Although the sun and it’s Ultra-Violet rays...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   The Grey Wall, Desolation Valley Wilderness Area   Haunting personal memories of the past are sometimes ugly ones, but in repeated exercises to maintain mental health, most of his preferred recollections induce smiles and pleasant thoughts. ...

Today, April 25th, is Anzac Day. It is the Day of Remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorating the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on April 25th 1915. It turned out to be one of the most futile campaigns of all time but it created the national...

If you would have asked this question last week, I would have said no, this has never happened to me. However, this past Monday on October 3rd, 2011 I was laid off from my job. I worked for a non-profit organization. They were a great company to work for. They are...

  I remember hearing some stories about the women on my mother’s side of our family that made me believe they were women who were way ahead of their times in their thinking, attitudes and behaviors. I think they must have learned at a very young age to be independent and...

Today, 25th April, 2012 is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand - our repective day of remembrance for both countries. It commemorates the landing of soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli, Turkey on this day in 1915 to fight their opening battles in WWI in...

A much loved keepsake of my mother has recently found a new home in Ohio, Springfield Museum of Art. Its beginnings can be traced to the art department of Newcomb College in New Orleans and a talented potter by the name of Henrietta Bailey around 1919. We call it the Daffodil...

    It was after 6:00 when my long day ended and the offices were quiet at last. I surveyed my overflowing desk, then stood and stretched wearily.  Alone in the silence, I could hear the snaps and crackles as I slowly rotated my neck to relieve the day’s tension.  I hoped...

I received a package in the mail at Christmas when I was about ten years old.  After gently removing the brown mailing paper on the outside, then pulling off the lovely wrapping paper on the inside, I dug through the layers of tissue.  There I found the most beautiful, albeit totally...

I wish I knew my grandparents better before they passed. What I know of them comes from a few visits as a child and conversations with my parents. Genealogists are often surprised by their discoveries about past family members. But what will my descendants be surprised to know about me? That...

On the road…again!!! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Giving Up Barbershops Except for the one time he went to a barber in Gainesville, Florida before leaving for the Organization for Tropical Studies study program in Costa Rica in 1970, the Footloose Forester decided to...

  On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Travels By Train On his first travels west of the Rocky Mountains, the Footloose Forester had a premonition that he would never again be as happy as he was in the mountains.  Seeing the Rockies...

              My Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother               John Blackham                          Susannah Lees                     JOHN BLACKHAM BORN:   14 November 1827 PLACE:   Heaton Norris, Lancashire, England CHRISTENED:  November 1827 BAPTIZED:   4 April 1849 by T. J. Schofield CONFIRMED:  29 April 1849 by...

This is simply a word picture of something I often experienced as a boy.   As often happens I didn’t know how much I loved these things until I realized they no longer shared my world. Steam Engines:     At the mid-century point of the 20 th Century hundreds of awesome black...

  When I was in the Navy and we'd be out to sea, once a week we'd have boxing matches.  And the other week we'd have wrestling matches.  It was for entertainment to keep the troops entertained when we were out to sea.  We'd be out six to eight months at...