Category Archives: Striving

The Hana Chronicles: Month 10, Day 12

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Posted by on in children, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

November 2, 2026- Hana pointed at the United States, on the cloth globe, and babbled a question. I took the opportunity to point out Texas, then run my finger westward across the country and the Pacific ocean, to South Korea. I told her that was where her mother is from. One never knows what can settle in little minds.

My granddaughter got a good report from one of her doctors today. She is progressing very well. I pretty much come to the same conclusion, each day. She is fairly intuitive, likes compliments and has a feistiness about her, with a healthy sense of humour.

HANA’S NOTE– I was happy when I went to the doctor. He didn’t say much; just that I am strong.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: New Jersey- The Garden State gave me a wife and a stellar extended family. At Longmeadow Farm, in Pluckemin, my love for horses was rekindled and I came to know New Jersey as far more than a land of industrial cities and crowded beaches. Central New Jersey is as fine an equestrian country as any in the world.

The Turf: Northwest New Jersey is covered by the Appalachian Mountains, locally known as the Kittatinny Range. An area known simply as The Highlands falls east of the mountains, and includes the Ramapo Range. Piedmont runs south and east of The Highlands. This is prime horse country, and is where Longmeadow Farm was located. It is also where most of the state’s industrial centers are found. South and east of the Piedmont lies the Inner Coastal Plain, New Jersey’s Garden region. The outer coastal plain contains the Pine Barrens, a large wetland that is prime berry growing country. It also contains most of the Jersey Shore, with its celebrated beaches and barrier islands. New Jersey is drained by the Delaware, Passaic, Hackensack, Hudson, Raritan, Musconetcong and Mullica Rivers, along with their tributaries.

First Nations: New Jersey is the ancestral home of the Unami, Minisink and Unalachtigo peoples, all regarded as Lenni Lenape. Most of the Lenni Lenape left New Jersey, following colonial expansion in the 1740s, yet small communities still live in Vineland, Bridgeton, Rancocas and Mahwah.

Where I most feel at home- Pluckemin, Princeton, Califon, Vineland, Barnegat, Teaneck, Morristown

Where I most feel at peace- Teaneck, Barnegat, Pluckemin

NEXT: New York

The Hana Chronicles: Month 10, Day 6

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Posted by on in children, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 27, 2026- Hana is very cognizant of changes in her schedule, and she wants to adjust accordingly. I’m not sure how she does this, but today, after I mentioned that she was to be taken to a hospital for a blood draw, in the afternoon, she finished her lunch, then walked with me to the stroller and wanted to take her second walk of the day, two hours earlier than usual.

That we did, meeting a family that had put together an imaginative Halloween display, in their front yard. The mother and teenaged daughter explained all the figures, with Hana paying close attention. She doesn’t always take well to strangers, but as she realized this was their yard, she smiled and even chuckled at their description of Sally, the girl from “Nightmare Before Christmas”. They mentioned that they had a Jack Skellington figure also, but it was damaged by wind.

Hana went with her parents to the blood draw, which was not as hard for her as previously. She wore her coloured bandage proudly, raising her arm, as she does when she wants me to notice something. The soreness on her arm made her moody, but dinner and a bath set everything right.

HANA’S NOTE- I am always thinking about stuff. I’m glad that Papa was willing to take me for my afternoon walk early.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Virginia- The Old Dominion was my home for fourteen months, in 1969-71. I was stationed at Fort Myer, and served as mail clerk for those living and working in TriService Barracks, a facility housing Army, Navy and Air Force members working in the Pentagon, or in other parts of the base. I came to know Arlington, and other parts of the Metro DC area, fairly well.

I have visited other parts of Virginia about 14 times. Penny, Aram and I made several visits to the Shenandoah region, sometimes visiting two friends of hers in Charlottesville, and other times going on short hikes in the national park. Aram and I stayed in Roanoke on a drive back from New Jersey, in late 2000. I have visited both sides of the state, on several subsequent journeys. Extended family live in Alexandria, in the Richmond area and in Virginia Beach.

The turf: Like other southeastern states,Virginia is mountainous in the west (Appalachian and Blue Ridge). Along with Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, the Commonwealth has a significant portion of the Appalachian Trail running through it. Virginia’s Piedmont takes up the central portion of the state, and a Coastal Plain covers the east, including Virginia’s portion of the Delmarva Peninsula-the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. Virginia is drained by the Potomac, James, Shenandoah and Roanoke Rivers, along with their tributaries.

First Nations- Virginia is the ancestral home of the Chickahominy, Monacan, Pamunkey, Nansemond, Rappahannock,Upper Mattaponi, Cheroenhaka (Nottoway), Mataponi, and Patowomeck peoples. Seven Federal and eleven State-recognized communities are maintained by these Nations, around the Commonwealth.

Virginia’s First Nations alternately welcomed and struggled with the Spanish, in the late 16th Century, then with the British, in the 17th Century. In addition, the Powhatan had clashed with neighbouring nations, before being driven back by the Monacan, at Natural Bridge, sometime in the Eleventh Century. By the time the English settled Jamestown, in 1807, the Powhatan had built a Confederacy, of some 30 Algonquian-speaking tribes, ruling a 100 x 100 mile area from northeast North Carolina to the middle of what is now Delaware and eastern Maryland.

It was with this Confederacy that the English first negotiated, then fought three wars (1613-14, 1622 and 1644-46). Wars of conquest were still wage by the Seneca and Cherokee, in western Virginia, in the late 17th Century. This led to the English making treaties with the Iroquois Confederacy and the Cherokee as well.

Clashes with the Shawnee, including Pontiac’s War (1763-66) and Dunmore’s War (1774), and a resumption of fighting with the Cherokee (1776-94) roiled the Appalachian and Piedmont regions, even as Americans were fighting the British, further east and south.

In the mid-Twentieth Century, a campaign by a segregationist named Walter Plecker disrupted the lives of Virginia’s indigenous people, causing many to leave the state.After Plecker’s departure, in 1946, and with the passage of Civil Rights legislation at the Federal level, First Nations people in Virginia began to reclaim their sovereignty and their lands, resulting in the communities that exist today.

Where I feel most at home- Arlington, Alexandria, Chincoteague, Virginia Beach, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Dublin, Edinburg, Winchester, Marion.

Where I feel most at peace- Chincoteague, Harrisonburg, Dublin

NEXT: West Virginia

The Hana Chronicles: Month 10, Day 5

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Posted by on in children, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 26, 2026- Hana looked at a small photograph, which showed Aram as a 6-year-old boy. I told her that was her Daddy when he was much younger. She looked over at his Navy Boot Camp graduation picture and then again at the small photo. Back and forth a few times, she made the connection.

Hana has taught herself how to climb up onto a cloth chair. She also knows how to go from there up onto a futon bed next to it. I kept her off the bed and then guided her down off the chair. The climbing fun has begun, and so has the increased vigilance.

HANA’S NOTE- I am feeling more like I can climb up things now. Papa is watching me very close, though, so I won’t be able to go everywhere.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: North Carolina- I have been to, or through, the Tar Heel State eight times. My first was a bus ride that stopped in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, in 1987. Aram and I spent a night in Charlotte, in late 2000, while driving a car back from New Jersey. Our family road trip, in 2007, saw us stay in Fayetteville, going north and Greensboro, going back south. Salisbury and Raleigh were other northbound overnight stops, in 2017 and 2022, respectively. I visited Asheville and Tryon briefly, in 2021. Each of these places has offered a hearty welcome. I have extended family in Winston-Salem, as well.

The turf- The Appalachian Mountains cover North Carolina’s west, and may be divided into four ranges: The Blue Ridge, Great Smokies, Black Mountains and Brushy Mountains. East of the Appalachians is the Piedmont Plateau, a hilly and forested region, which is also NC’s most populous area. The eastern third of the state is Coastal Plain. This includes the peninsula and islands of the Outer Banks. North Carolina celebrates its geographical diversity with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which has 18 segments, starting in Kuwohi, on the Tennessee border and ending at Jockey’s Ridge, in the Outer Banks. North Carolina features the Eastern Continental Divide in the Blue Ridge Mountains ( divides between water flowing towards the Atlantic and that flowing towards the Gulf of Mexico.). The state is drained by the French Broad, Kanawha, Hiawassee, Catawba, Yadkin, Chowan, Roanoke, Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers, along with their tributaries.

First Nations-North Carolina is the ancestral home of the Saponi, Cherokee, Haliwa, Meherrin, Coharie, Lumbee and Waccamaw peoples. The Tuscarora Nation lived in the Coastal Plain, until the 1710s. They were defeated by British settlers, in Barnwell’s War, (1713), at Fort Noherooka. The Tuscarora then moved to New York and Ontario.The Catawba were numerous in the Piedmont region, but were decimated by disease and conflict with the Cherokee. They primarily live today in South Carolina. The Cherokee, originally allowed to own land in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, under treaties of 1777 and 1792, were forcibly removed in 1838, under an edict from President Martin Van Buren. This removal was part of the Trail of Tears, which saw 20,000 people die, en route to Oklahoma. Today, there are eight State Reservations in North Carolina, including the Quall Boundary Reservation (Cherokee) in the Blue Ridge.

Where I most feel at home: Tryon, Asheville, Salisbury, Raleigh, Wilmington.

Where I most feel at peace: Tryon, Salisbury

NEXT: Virginia

The Hana Chronicles: Month 10, Day 4

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Posted by on in children, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 25, 2026- Hana babbled almost non-stop today, when she wasn’t hanging onto me, to walk around and around. She wore herself out, a couple of times, and tumbled over, inside the playpen, but she was no worse for the wear, at day’s end.

My granddaughter is growing. She is 31 inches tall and will probably have another growth spurt shortly. She doesn’t have a whole lot of patience, when it comes to her meals, but I tell her that her mommy is only one person, and she will just need to do something in the meantime, while her meal is being prepared.

Some focus was on her Dad, as he organized his office space, with two pieces of furniture that he put together this evening. Life goes better when every member of the family feels affirmed. We are making another concerted effort to organize the upstairs, and it’s happening.

HANA’S NOTE-When I tumbled and scared myself, Mommy, Daddy and Papa were all there to make me feel better. I have to make sure I listen to them better.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: South Carolina- The Palmetto State was the first place I lived, outside of Massachusetts. From June-September, 1969, I was a resident of Fort Jackson, outside Columbia. Eight weeks were spent in Basic Training, and three weeks followed as a general laborurer, whilst waiting to be transferred to Advanced Individual Training, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, outside Indianapolis.

Since then, I have returned to South Carolina six times-with visits to Greenville, Rock Hill, Travelers Rest, Aiken, Edgefield, Walterboro, Timmonsville, Florence, Hemingway, Beaufort, Hilton Head, St. Helena, and Richard B. Russell Lake, as well as Columbia and Charleston. My visits have generally gone well. I connected with a Xanga friend, in Greenville, in 2018. I also spent time with my middle brother and his family, outside that fine city, when they lived there in 1987.

The Turf-South Carolina’s northwest is covered by the Blue Ridge Mountains. The state’s mid-section is Piedmont and the eastern two thirds are covered by coastal plain. South Carolina shares the Sea Islands with Georgia. The main islands in S.C. are Hilton Head, St. Helena, Dafuskie, Fripp, Edisto, Johns, Morris, Bull, Cape, Murphy and Isle of Palms. South Carolina is drained by the Santee, PeeDee, Congaree, Saluda, Edisto, Combahee, Seneca, Tugaloo and Savannah Rivers, as well as their tributaries.

First Nations- South Carolina is the ancestral home of the Catawba, Eastern Cherokee,Pee Dee, Southern Iroquois, Cheraw, Santee, Wassamasaw, Edisto, and Waccamaw peoples. The Catawba are a Federally-recognized tribe. All others are recognized by the State. Native peoples in the region were largely exterminated, due to smallpox carried by European settlers. Those who survived were for the most part forced to move to Oklahoma, during the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. The above-mentioned Nations were permitted to return to South Carolina in the latter part of the 19th Century.

Where I feel most at home- Greenville, Columbia, Hemingway, Hilton Head Island, Aiken

Where I most feel at peace- Hemingway, Aiken, Hilton Head Island, Calhoun Falls State Park

NEXT: North Carolina

The Hana Chronicles: Month 10, Day 2

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 23, 2026- “Can I have that?” Hana was referring to my phone, on which I was checking her father’s whereabouts, to see when he might get home. Of course, she won’t be viewing screens, much less using phones, before she turns two. She took my “No” calmly and went back to her toy. My granddaughter’s mix of babbling and intelligible speech merits careful attention. The latter is limited by her seven teeth, with the eighth starting to erupt (late bottom left lateral incisor,) having to do the work of a full mouth.

Her receptive language, though, is not at all limited by oral development. When I noted to her mother that dangling cords needed to be placed on the counter top, Hana, watching and listening from her playpen, started laughing uproariously. She and I have had “the talk” about electrical cords, with me showing her where they are connected to heavy objects. She will look at a cord, then look up at its appliance, and decide it’s not worth the trouble. Still and all, we have moved just about all of the plug-in appliances to spots that don’t require toddler-level connections.

HANA’S NOTE– I have decided I like sleeping on my back at night. I sleep deeper that way.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Florida- I have been in the Sunshine State five times: First in 2011, to Olustee State Park, Jacksonville and St. Augustine; 2015 brought me to Panama City, Lynn Haven, Marianna, Tallahassee and Gainesville; 2017 and 2018 brought me to Spring Hill, home to my younger sister-in-law, and mother-in-law, until her passing in 2018; Spring, 2022 took me around the state, including to Spring Hill, my last stop on that jaunt. The 2022 journey took in five places I had set as “Future Fives”- Daytona International Speedway, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Miami Beach, Key West and Lake Okeechobee. Big Cypress, Naples Botanical Garden, Tampa and St. Petersburg followed. Along with Penny’s two sisters, at least five of my cousins live in Florida. I got to visit with one of them on my last journey.

The turf- Florida is almost uniformly flat. A small area of slight upland, in the northwest, and the Lake Wales Ridge, running down the center of the Florida Peninsula, are the sole exceptions to a preponderance of wetlands and cane break plains. South Florida, including the Southwest, is dominated by swamp, in areas which have not been drained and developed. Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, as well as some reserves near Lake Okeechobee and in the area just south of Cape Canaveral. Dry Tortugas National Park is a collection of small islands, 68 miles southwest of Key West. As the name implies, D.T. is the driest place in Florida. It is best known as the place of incarceration of Samuel Mudd, who was convicted of harbouring John Wilkes Booth, after the asssassin had killed Abraham Lincoln, as well as of conspiring with Booth and several others to commit the crime.

Florida is drained by the St. Marys, St. Johns, Indian, St. Lucie, Halifax, Loxahatchee, Kissimmee, Manatee, Suwannee, Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Escambia Rivers, as well as their tributaries. Alachua Sink and Lake Okeechobee are also receptacles of fresh water, which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Florida and Gulf of Mexico, each of which borders Florida.

First Nations- Florida is the ancestral home of the Mikasuki people. It is the adopted home of the Seminoles, a Muscogee-speaking people who migrated from the north, in hopes of escaping forced relocation from the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, in the 1830s. In the north, the Apalachee people had been brought into Christianity by the Spanish. Most of the Apalachee moved, along with the Creeks, to Indian Territory, in the 1830s. They left behind Mission San Luis de Apalache, an historical gem, in Tallahasseee.

The Seminole had crossed into Florida in the 1810s, to avoid enslavement and harassment in their native lands. Florida at that time was under Spanish rule. Andrew Jackson led a series of raids into Florida, attacking Seminole, Mikasuki and Black Seminole villages, in 1816-7. This was the First Seminole War. In 1819, Florida was transferred to the United States. Resistance to pressure to move to Indian Territory led to the Second Seminole War (1835-42). After their villages and storehouses were destroyed in that conflict, the majority of Seminoles relocated to Oklahoma. Those who remained continued to have difficulty with white settlers, leading to the Third Seminole War (1855-58). At the conclusion of this conflict, the Seminoles moved into areas not wanted by settlers. Today, the Mikasuki and Seminole have Federally-recognized reservations in Florida.

Where I most feel at home- Spring Hill, Tampa, Naples, Osceola Tiger, Olustee, St. Augustine, Marianna

Where I most feel at peace- Naples Botanical Garden, Osceola Tiger, Big Cypress, Olusrtee. Merritt Island

NEXT: Georgia

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 30

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 21, 2026- Hana is tiring of being called “baby”. She groaned a couple of times, when I was rocking her this afternoon and used the word. I’m not sure how she sees herself, but I sense she wants to be given credit for not being totally helpless. Yet, until she can walk under her own power, accepting our help, most of the time, is obviously necessary.

All the same, she was grateful, this evening, when her parents were out shopping, it was pitch black in the bedroom, and she was a bit scared. I went in and stayed with her for a while, until she finally decided to lie down and try to sleep. When Aram came home and checked, she was sprawled out on her back, thoroughly content.

HANA’S NOTE– I like the routes that Papa picks for our morning and afternoon walks. There is always Halloween stuff, in at least one yard. Today we saw a whole bunch of skeletons and zombies doing different things. Some of them even had clothes on. I think zombies are funny looking.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Ohio- I have criss-crossed the Buckeye State about twenty times. The first was in 1972, and I spent a night at Ohio State University, on my way back from Colorado and Kansas City. I visited my brother and sister-in-law four times, when they lived in the Cleveland area, in different suburbs. Toledo, Lima, Van Wert, Springfield, Bellefontaine, Mansfield, Columbus, Zanesville, Youngstown, Canton, Chillicothe and East Palestine have all rolled out the welcome mat at different times. Cincinnati has always been off the track, for no reason other than I was ever headed either too far north or too far south. It remains on my radar screen.

The turf- Most of western and central Ohio is flat, with considerable tree cover, aside from areas of heavy agricultural use. The Ohio River Valley and the eastern 1/3 of the state is rather rugged mountains and ravines. The Hocking Hills are foothills of the Appalachians, and cover the southeast quadrant of Ohio. The state is drained by the Ohio, Maumee, Ottawa, Auglaize, Little Auglaize, Toussaint, Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Vermillion, Black, Cuyahoga, Grand, Great Miami, Scioto, Tuscarawas, and Mahoning Rivers, as well as their tributaries. Ohio has 293 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie, thus giving the Buckeye State the longest shore along that Great Lake, outside of Ontario.

Ohio has a statewide hiking and biking trail, the Buckeye Trail, which encircles from the Cleveland area, south to Marietta, then west to Chillicothe and Cincinnati, before heading north through Springfield and Dayton, heading back to the east at Defiance, and ending at Painesville, northeast of Cleveland.

First Nations-Ohio is the ancestral home of the Shawnee, Kickapoo, Erie, Ottawa, Seneca, Wyandot, Miami and Lenape peoples. The ancestors of some of these nations built an extensive system of mounds, throughout southern and central Ohio, The most prominent of these are found in the Chillicothe area. The largest is Serpent Mound, a National Historical Site., as is Hopewell. Miamisburg and Alligator Mounds are also well-preserved.

In the Nineteenth Century, European settlers began arriving in Ohio, in earnest. Flawed treaties, such as the Treaty of Greenville(1814), resulted in the removal of the Erie (who blended in with other tribes), Wyandot and Miami. The Shawnee, largest of the First Nations in Ohio, were largely forced to move to what is now Oklahoma. The last Wyandots were removed to Kansas, in 1843. Today, there are no Federally or state-recognized First Nations groups in Ohio.

Where I most feel at home- Mansfield, Zanesville, Euclid, Conneaut, Toledo,

Where I most feel at peace- Hopewell National Historic Site, Van Wert

NEXT: We head back to the Southeast, and Alabama.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 27

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 18, 2026- Hana is starting to mimic sounds. When her mother made a mooing sound, after putting a pair of cow-print pants on her, Hana made her own mooing sound. This afternoon, on our neighbourhood walk to find Halloween displays, we passed a front yard with six witch figures. I let out a cackle and Hana made her own cackling sound. She laughs heartily, when someone mimics her babbling.

My granddaughter continues to show interest in the framed photos in my common area. She was delighted to see one of her parents at their civil wedding of November, 2018. That ceremony, in Guam, was what made it easier for Yunhee to get her Green Card, as it was performed on U.S. soil. Hana is thankfully very careful, when handling the pictures.

HANA’S NOTE- Papa takes me on some pretty long walks in the stroller. We are finding new connections between our neighbourhood and some others that seem far away. I usually fall asleep on the way back.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Mississippi- The Magnolia State shares its namesake’s final course towards the Gulf of Mexico, with Louisiana, until their border takes a sharp right-hand turn, just south of Point Breeze. Louisiana then has the Father of Waters all to itself, the rest of the way.

I have made seven visits to “the Sip”, as the home folks sometimes call it. I first passed through in 1987, on a bus between Atlanta and New Orleans. Our stops at Meridian, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Biloxi were fairly short. In 2000, Aram and I stopped for lunch in Jackson, and toured Vicksburg National Military Park. My solo road trips took me along the coast in 2015 and 2022, and to various spots in the interior on other cross country jaunts. I’ve found nothing but heartfelt hospitality here, from both Black and White folks. Paying homage to Emmitt Till, Fannie Lou Hamer and the three Civil Rights workers who were killed in Philadelphia, MS (1964) did not make me suspicious to anyone. People mostly are trying to rise above the limitations of the past.

The turf- Most of the Magnolia State is flat riparian plain. The northeast is a region of rolling hills, and piney woods. Mississippi is drained by the Mississippi, Pearl, Tombigbee, Pascagoula, Leaf, Tallahatchee and Yazoo Rivers, as well as their tributaries.

First Nations- Mississippi is the ancestral home of the Choctaw, Quapaw, Chickasaw, Natchez, Houma, Tunica, Biloxi and Ofo peoples. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw, descended from those who refused to leave their homeland during the Trail of Tears, in 1830-32, is the only Federally-recognized Native American entity in the state. All others were relocated, in the Jacksonian Era. (Prior to Andrew Jackson’s campaign of relocation, the Choctaw sold 4.5 million acres of land to the U. S. Government, under the terms of the Treaty of Mount Dexter {1805}.) The Natchez have returned since, and have a significant community at Grand Village.

Where I most feel at home- Ocean Springs, Waveland, Tupelo, Ruleville, Vicksburg, Corinth

Where I most feel at peace- Corinth, Ruleville, Natchez Trace

NEXT: We head back up to the states of the Central Great Lakes region- starting with Indiana.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 25

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Posted by on in children, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 16, 2026- Hana decided she would help me this afternoon. When I had several items to carry upstairs, she wanted to go with me. So, I supported her, while holding two envelopes. She carried a third envelope. She was very proud of herself for not dropping the envelope-and I thanked her for being a helper.

Yunhee put a pair of pants, with a black and white cow on her, then made a mooing sound. Hana then made her own mooing sound and started giggling. Her intentional babbling has really taken off this week. She is mostly out of the playpen and walking with one of us, then playing quietly in whatever room suits her fancy.

HANA’S NOTE– I wanted to help Papa, so I took one of the envelopes and tried to hold onto a plastic bottle, but I dropped it. Papa just tossed the bottle upstairs.

EXPANDING CIRCLES:Kentucky- The Bluegrass State is one of two that stretch from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The other is Tennessee. Kentucky has the shortest Mississippi shoreline of any state in the valley:60 miles, including the Kentucky Bend enclave, that is surrounded by the river-and Tennessee. I have been to Kentucky three times, in 1979, 2011and 2017. My focuses were on the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, the state capital, a large cavern , some friends from my Xanga days and extended family in the Louisville area, albeit across the river in southern Indiana. Family friends have moved back to Kentucky, from southern California. It’d be nice to visit them there some day.

The turf- Western Kentucky, an area known as Jackson Purchase, is the state’s lowland, lying along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, near their confluence, which is in a nearby area of Illinois. The rest of the state is upland or rolling hills: Cumberland Plateau, including foothills of the Appalachian Mountains; the Bluegrass Region and the Mississippi Plateau occupy the northern and central parts of Kentucky, respectively. Kentucky is drained by the Mississippi, Ohio, Big Sandy, Kentucky, Tennessee, Cumberland, Green and Licking Rivers, along with their tributaries. The Tennessee River has been dammed to establish two large reservoirs: Lake Cumberland and Kentucky Lake. Land Between the Lakes is a popular National Recreation Area.

First Nations- Kentucky is the ancestral home of the Shawnee, Cherokee, Yuchi and Chickasaw people. The Cherokee maintain a homeland in the Henderson area. There was considerable conflict between the Native peoples of Kentucky and settlers who began arriving in the mid-18th Century. Battles ancillary to the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 resulted in defeat of the confederated tribes. The harshest defeats were at Fallen Timbers, in 1794 and further afield, at the Battle of the Thames, in Ontario, in 1813-which saw the death of Tecumseh, leader of the Confederated Tribes. There was a period of voluntary Native American removal, during the presidencies of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams (1821-1829). Under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, forced removal of Cherokee people from North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as several tribes from Georgia, constituted the Trail of Tears. The expelled nations were forced into what is now Oklahoma. Some Cherokee returned to Kentucky, in time, and live in the above-mentioned community.

Where I most feel at home- Hodgenville, Mammoth Cave, Paducah, Louisville

Where I most feel at peace- Falls of the Ohio, Mammoth Cave

NEXT: Tennessee

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 24

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 15,2026- Hana has gotten more boisterous, in the house. She is also a lot more animated, and the inflections in her babbling more clearly indicate meaning and expectation. We made two more walks, up and down the stairs, and she spent more time exploring her future bedroom and the upstairs common area. She was happy just sitting quietly for a while, in the middle of her bedroom carpet. The rest of the time, she had a lot of commentary.

Hana and I went to a small bake sale that some children in the neighbourhood to the northwest of us had put together, this afternoon. It drew a small crowd, and I chose several cakes and cookies that I can share with Aram and Yunhee. Hana doesn’t pay much mind to pastries. She does, however, know what ice cream is, and is not happy about it being off limits to her, for the time being.

HANA’S NOTE- I like my upstairs room. I will be okay with sleeping there, when Mommy and Daddy say I am ready.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Missouri- The Show Me State is another of my favourites. Two of my cousins live there. They are sisters, as it happens-one living in Blue Springs, near Kansas City and the other in Avilla, a small village between Joplin and Carthage. My maternal grandfather’s family lived on the other side of the state-in St. Louis. He left the area and settled in Saugus, MA, siring nine children, including my mother. I have been in Missouri at least two dozen times, the first being 1972, being let off in Kansas City, and spending two days there. then catching a lift to Columbus, OH.

The turf- Missouri, in its southwest and mid-south, shares the Ozark Plateau with Arkansas. Southeast Missouri, the “Boot Heel”, is the northernmost part of the Mississippi Delta. West Central and Northern Missouri are areas of rolling plains, the heritage of glaciation.Missouri is drained by the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, which have their confluence near St. Charles, northwest of St. Louis. The White, Osage, Gasconade and St. Francis Rivers also drain the state.

FIRST NATIONS-Missouri is the ancestral home of the Nutachi, who are also called Missouria. This tribe was nearly wiped out by raids of the Sac and Fox, in the mid-Eighteenth Century . Their remnants joined the Otoe, in Oklahoma. No major clashes between white settlers and Native Peoples are known to have occurred in Missouri.

Where I fell most at home- Sarcoxie, Avilla, Joplin, Carthage, Wheatland, Columbia, Rolla, Kansas City

Where I feel most peace- Sarcoxie, Wilson’s Creek, New Madrid

NEXT: Kentucky

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 22

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 13, 2026- Today was Yunhee’s birthday, so Aram and I sang “Happy Birthday”, first thing this morning, while Hana smiled and danced, in the playpen. She talked to her mother, quite a bit this afternoon. seemingly about the food she was given for dinner. (She ate almost all of it.) Her speech cadence is quite impressive, with the intonation of her babbling quite measured and emphatic when it would seem to be appropriate. She answers “yeah” and “no”, in response to opinion questions.

We went on two walks today: The first was along our old route, in Hoblitzelle Park, near the middle school and then back to the house. As it was cloudy this morning, Hana’s sun shield could be retracted. In the afternoon, it was sunny again, so we went along a route that allowed full sun shield and saw a few Halloween displays, on various streets. Hana is, of course, too young to be taken around trick or treating, but she is noticing the different decorations. She wants to go up and touch some of them, so she is a bit disappointed that I don’t take her in the stroller, onto people’s lawns.

HANA’S NOTE- It was a happy birthday for Mommy. Of course, I wish she didn’t have to work during it.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Iowa- I have been through the Hawkeye State, end to end, only once. Parts of Iowa have been on my itinerary three other times. In 1997, we crossed from Davenport to Council Bluffs, in the midst of a tornado watch, but never encountered any twisters. My solo visits took in Des Moines, in 2013; Wapello and the Quad Cities, in 2019 and Sioux City, in 2022.

The turf- Iowa is largely covered by rolling hills, especially in the west (Loess Hills) and by bluffs along the Mississippi River, in the east and along the Missouri River, in the far west. The state is as affected by glacial activity as Wisconsin and Minnesota were, and has several small lakes in its midsection. Iowa is drained by the Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, Skunk, Des Moines, Cedar, Wapsipinicon,Big Sioux, Little Sioux, Nodaway, Raccoon, Nishnabotna, Boyer and Thompson Rivers.

First Nations-Iowa is the ancestral home of the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk), Otoe, Iowa (Baxoje), Missouri, Kaw, Omaha, Osage and Ponca peoples. Dakota, Pawnee, Arikara, Potawatomi and Ojibwe peoples have had a presence in Iowa, especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries. The first settlement at Council Bluffs was made by a Potawatomi band. Today, only the Sac and Fox (Meskwaki) Nation has a reservation in Iowa, at Tama, which is named for a Nineteenth Century Meskwaki chief. Omaha people have a claim to an area called Blackbird Bend, near Onawa and Decatur.

Iowa has not experienced major conflicts between Native Americans and Whites, as neighbouring states have. I t has been more of a way station for above-mentioned tribes, either passing through, en route to Kansas and Oklahoma or briefly staying, to conduct bison and elk hunts.

Where I most feel at home- Council Bluffs, Des Moines.

Where I most feel at peace-Altoona, Council Bluffs

NEXT: Illinois