I met Jaja and Dave Martin this summer and was very excited to learn of their world travels aboard a small sailboat. The Martins are unique cruisers in that they not only sailed away from the “destination” places in the Caribbean, and toward the cold arctic, but they also did so with three young children. More
Blogs
Podcast with Jaja Martin
Exploring Bulgaria
The birthplace of European civilization was the west coast of the Black Sea, say archaeologists. That is Bulgaria! When Del and I had the opportunity to go on a small group tour in 2008, led by a former Deputy Minister of Culture and Chief Engineer for the Institute of Monuments of Culture, we went, and we continue to go. More
Imaging a black hole
The concept of a black hole, where gravity is so strong it sucks in everything coming close to it — even photons of light — seemed the subject of science fiction not many years ago. Black holes were first suggested by Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Decades of research and observations have provided evidence of their existence, but it has never been possible to directly observe and image one.
Enter the latest proposed attempt to photograph a black hole. More
Marathon in Antarctica
Well, I did it! I ran 26.2 miles on the Ross Ice Shelf. Wow, what an experience it was! The temperature was between 28 and 30 degrees, and the wind was 5-10 mph.
I was told that there might be penguins running with us for part of the race, but unfortunately there were not. More
Toasted Waffle Sandwiches
I apologize for what I’m about to introduce to you. Truly. Deeply. From the bottom of my bacon-enlarged bottom. I’d say my heart, but my bottom’s bigger, especially after discovering these sandwiches. And that’s a fact. Low-fat? Heck no. Loaded with whole-grains? No way. Low in sodium? Er, uh uh. There’s nothing at all redeeming about these other than the fact that they taste so darned good. Sometimes, though, that just has to be enough. More
The theology of sports
Does God intervene in sports? This is the question that has captivated the news recently. Pundits, sports announcers, some of the clergy of various denominations, newspaper articles, etc., have all had their say about the recent remarkable feats of Denver Bronco’s quarterback Tim Tebow. More
On the way to…
Aruba and Cartegena were supposed to be nothing more than brief ports of call on the way to our main destination: the Panama Canal. But that is not the way it turned out; especially Cartegena. But first, Aruba. Or maybe I should start at the very beginning which would be well before Aruba. More
The piano in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam
The Rijks Museum branch in Schiphol Airport is always one of our relaxation places if we have several hours between flights. In a quiet room upstairs, between concourses E and F, there are a few beautiful paintings on loan from the main museum downtown. On our way home from Istanbul we were surprised to find the main floor area below it re-designed and called Holland Boulevard. More
Room With a View
“Room With a View” is a morale trip here at McMurdo Station, and it sure worked. Near the end of the season people start to take these types of trips to keep their spirit up for the last push before going home. I received mine yesterday, and it was awesome. We traveled 1,400 feet up the side of Mt. Erubus on snowmobiles. More
January’s Top 10 List
Every month I’m going to post a Top 10 List. This isn’t a scientific study or anything like that, so don’t take it too seriously. This is the top-10 teenage list according to ME! The research for each of my lists will come from my 16-year-old son, 14-year-old daughter and several of their friends.
10 advantages to living with teenagers More

