Tonkin to You!

  This past week, my trusty companion Willis and I stole away to one our go-to regional hikes, Canoe Creek State Park. While not as isolated as my favorite woodland destinations, Canoe Creek is a beautiful and easy-to-reach patch of PA nature. With the first major storm on the horizon, I sensed it might be my last chance to get some late-fall, snow-free hiking. I rediscovered my love of the outdoors back in 2020, during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Despite all the terrible and ongoing troubles brought on by this virus (medical, social, and political), COVID brought me back to a type of grounding I had totally forgotten about in my life, namely the value of unplugging. Since this rediscovery, Willis has been my constant companion for every sojourn I’ve taken into the beautiful woods of my home state. There’s something particularly special about getting a final hike in before the snow falls, particularly if you’ve been visiting a trail year-round. From the birth and flowerin

  This past week, my wife and I celebrated our tenth anniversary. A decade. One tenth of a century. According to brides.com, the traditional “metal” of this occasion is aluminum. While not as dignified as silver or flashy as gold, aluminum has a beauty all its own. The substance is flexible, durable, and adaptable, all elements of a good union between people that looks to stand the test of time! As humans, we are wired to mark time. From birthdays to graduation dates, we count down how far it is until something will happen or after something has happened. Like Hansel and Gretel’s trail of breadcrumbs, these dates in time either help us find the path forward or to go back to where we were in the first place if required. Our online world certainly has made such forward and backward motion easier. From digital photo archives to searchable Facebook posts, we can take a walk backward in time with a few clicks of the button. My wife, who’s walking in her mom’s footsteps as the photograph