Hole In The Donut Travels

The Kankakee River ice jam is no more. Two days ago the temperature in Illinois soared to a record breaking 60 degrees; this on the heels of weeks of sub-zero temperatures that had frozen the river solid. As  the thermometer climbed, the ice began to melt and crack, piling up in giant slabs that backed [...]

About a year ago, I wrote a story titled “Hopelessness Is Only One Letter Away From Hopelessness.” I have more interaction with homeless people than most, since I live in Sarasota, Florida, midway between the Salvation Army facility and downtown. Every day, dozens of homeless people walk downtown in the morning and return to the [...]

Unless this crazy weather pattern stops, I’m afraid my family is going to run me out of town on a rail for fear that I am a jinx. To begin with, this has been Illinois’ coldest December in many years. The Kankakee River, which runs right by my Dad’s front door, NEVER freezes before January. [...]

Christmas morning dawned a cold but sunny 12 degrees. Although I never like being in Illinois in the winter, this year has been especially difficult. Because of repeated ice storms and snowstorms, I’ve been trapped inside more than usual. But yesterday’s crystal blue skies meant that Dad and I could go to my sister’s house [...]

The snow has finally stopped here in Illinois and the temperatures have finally climbed above zero; it’s now 12 degrees and expected to climb all the way to 28. The sun is even peeking through the clouds – just a bit, but enough to melt a little of the ice that has been coating all [...]

Over the past several years, Dad and I have developed a new tradition. Each year when I travel to Illinois to spend the holidays with family, we set aside a time to watch “A Christmas Story” on TV. This classic film chronicles an All-American 1940’s era Northern Indiana family at Christmastime. The plot revolves around [...]

Last week I spent a few days in the Tampa Bay, Florida area before traveling north to Illinois to visit my family for the holidays. One of the attractions I visited was the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where injured dolphins are rescued, treated, and released back into their natural environment. I watched in fascination as the [...]

The footage of an angry ocean crashing onshore and sweeping beneath an oceanfront cottage is indelibly imprinted onto the memory of anyone who saw the movie “Nights In Rodanthe.” The storm scenes are so jaw-dropping that people may think they were computer generated, but the house is real. It is located in the development of [...]