He was right. And the television executives sold out to the corporate advertisers and delivered what the masses were so eager to see … entertainment. We can allow the tablets, smart phones and other technology gadgets to become platforms for social networking – or we can use them to teach, illuminate and inspire.

First time winter camping at Overlook Mountain, New Paltz, NY.

In 7 – 10 years, the glaciers at Glacier National Park and the Glacier at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa will be gone. Not diminished, not smaller — GONE. They have existed for 10,000 years and in my lifetime they will just . . . melt away. I can’t lie. Sometimes the fear of change of this magnitude churns my stomach and scares me to death. But then I remember . . . this is God’s world, not ours. BUT . . . like he gives us children to raise and nurture, so too, he has given us this earth. And it is our responsibility to nurture it. When I think about the power lines and NYRI and see the new gas pipeline going right past my house . . . I wonder. I wonder lots of things — but mostly I am sad. Sad because so many people don’t understand that the earth is a living thing and NEEDS us to take care of it. To nurture and respect this awesome thing that God has made available to us.

I hear so many people complaining about the snow (and Lord knows, we got a lot of it and early!). It creates work, no doubt. Shovel it. Drive in it. Reschedule because it can’t be driven in, shovel it again. But I LOVE it. There is nothing like the feeling of coming inside after being in that brisk air, so clear you could see forever if the mountains didn’t get in the way. The dogs love it. They roll in it. Bury their noses in it. Hunt for little critters in it. They even play catch with snowballs…and look so surprised when the ‘ball’ disappears.

So, you won’t hear me complain. Just pictures of nature’s

Glorious Majesty.

Imagine if we could really see what was over there? Maybe that is why the world is round. So we cannot possibly see over the horizon. If we truly knew what was out there, what was coming at us, I think we would be paralyzed and unable to go forward.

If the early settlers knew just how many bleached bones, unmarked graves and abandoned hopes and dreams they would encounter on the journey west … would they have had the courage to go at all? If Columbus had known how truly far that distance was to reach the East – would he have ventured beyond the harbor?

Confucius said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And Frodo had no idea what adventure lay before him as he simply walked out his door. The horizon reminds us that the adventure is there, waiting to happen, but we are not to know what it is.

View from the fire tower at Overlook Mountain in Woodstock, NY

View from a sailboat in the Caribbean Ocean

Full of metaphor and thought-provoking mystery, Paper Towns by John Green is a young adult novel that tells the story of Quentin and Margo – teens whose lives entwined when they were in grade school and together discovered the body of a man who committed suicide.

Quentin is the quintessential nerd and Margo, the popular girl, resides at the top of the high school hierarchy. Yet the two embark on a night of adventure and mischief as Quentin tags along on her quest for revenge. In her effervescent presence Quentin finds it difficult to adhere to his personal set of standards. He respects his parents, but sneaks out to accompany Margo. He is law abiding – never even breaks the speed limit – yet breaks into homes and commits vandalism. He is loyal to his friends, yet finds himself distancing himself from them as his focus shifts to Margo.

She is a candle. He is the moth.

Aware that he is risking his future (ivy leagues are calling) he is so enthralled with his idea of Margo and her fearless love of life that he can’t stay away.

The book confronts tough teenage topics – peer pressure, acceptance, sex, friendship and suicide. Through it all, it is Quentin’s strength of center – his deep awareness of who he is – that enables him to finally see Margo for who she is. She is more than a paper town, as are we all. “People love the idea of a paper girl. They always have. And the worst thing is that I loved it too. I cultivated it, you know?”

As a tool in the classroom, Green’s book provides the fodder for discussion about many situations that teenagers face. His use of metaphor interspersed with references to classic texts such as Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, challenge the reader to use external reference points to really “get it.”

As with any John Green novel, this one gets an A+.

Patriotic Spirit

Along the river. Faith and Sunshine.

Down Main Street

Clippity Clop down Main.

A beautiful day to be in the Town Square!

Lovely ladies enjoying the parade.

6th Annual Bob Ray Memorial Parade.

Hancock is the Gateway to the Delaware River.

It may be a Ford, but he is proud!

Bashful about getting their picture taken.

Pure Norman Rockwell … Jerry the barber on Main Street.