No water tastes as good as water from a mountain stream.

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1968. This was before we learned about Giardia. (Yes, that's my Ranger Rick jacket.)

Grand Finale

Chicago, Illinois, Spring 1962. Fortunately, there's not a clown in sight.

Trapeze Reunion

Chicago, Illinois, Spring 1962. Here's one of the things I like least about circuses.

Waiting

Verona, Wisconsin, March 2015. Last year, the crane pair started nesting in our backyard on March 19. We're waiting to see if they return. I still wonder if something bad didn't happen to the family last year.

CoyoteVest ...

... Pet Body Armor.

Biting my Lip

Bulger Park, Veterans Park District, Melrose Park, Illinois, Autumn 1965. I appear nervous about this recitation.

Check out the jukebox.

Seasonal Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, October 28, 2015. Mr. Irene participated in a carving contest at work.

Warned

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1972. We make our way to Cracker Lake. We're alert.

Subject Matter

Raganų Kalnas (the "Hill of Witches"), Juodkrantė, Lithuania, August 2011. Filmmaker Frank Barn has made the "Hill of Witches" the subject of an upcoming documentary.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Mule's Ear

Santorini, Greece, April 1976. I'm trying for a better shot.

A Poor Listener

Suburban Chicago, February 1964. I'm not paying attention to the poetry recitation; I'm watching Dad.

Swimming Lesson

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan, July 1961. That's our rental cottage in the background.

Fire in Glacier

Burning now.

(Thanks to my friend V for directing me to this article.)

ADDED: More photos here.

Risk Averse

Melrose Park, Illinois, June 1962. I hold on tight in the Kiddieland ring. I took several pony rides that summer.

A Small Catch

Lake of Bays, Ontario, Canada, July 1969. I always wear a life vest.

First Grade

Suburban Chicago, 1964. This teacher was not one of my favorites. She was, however, better than the sister next door who was ruler-whacking happy.

(I am hard to see here. I sit third from right in the second row. You can see my eye glasses popping up over a dark-haired, classmate's head.)

Risky Reunion

Port des Morts Park, Door County, Wisconsin, August 28, 1994. There are no railings here.

Second Grade

Suburban Chicago, 1965. That's Sister Margo. She was my favorite grade-school teacher. During one recess period, a group of children persisted in teasing me. Sister Margo walked across the parking lot and hugged me. I remember wiping my tears in her dark-brown habit.

There were 45 children in that classroom.

"But you’re very healthy so it may take longer."

Are believers better at accepting death?

Returning

The crane family stays close to the pond where the Crane Chicks hatched. Usually the cranes walk in the grassy area adjacent to the water. Yesterday Mama Crane and Papa Crane escorted the Crane Chicks to a knoll at the edge of their territory:

The Crane Chicks get exposed to threats when they wander farther from the nesting area. Some of the threats are old. Last evening, for example, Papa Crane tussled again with one of the geese; Mama Crane and the Crane Chicks watched from the shore:

After nightfall, we heard a screeching dispute in the pond. We worried that perhaps coyotes had reached the nest. The fox and the turkey vultures also came to mind.

When I got up this morning, I looked out to check on the cranes. I didn't see them in the yard. I worried at first, but then I saw they'd walked even farther than they had gone yesterday. The family was digging around for nibbles in an adjacent cornfield:

Mama Crane and Papa Crane later led the chicks back to the grass:

Soon, they settled in their familiar spot:

Sunday: the day for strolling.