Two dear friends asked me if I recalled when others first began to recognize “gifts” which I was given. I had never considered this question, but I was pleasantly surprised to immediately recall two such incidences. As I began to write this story, I recalled several more. As a general response to the question asked … Continue reading FORUM: Recognizing Gifts
Category: Forum
FORUM: Level-3
“Level-3” (L3) is the most advanced certification level that an amateur rocketeer can achieve from the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA), or from the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). Only rocketeers possessing L3 certification are authorized to fly the largest classes of motors. Rocket motors are broadly categorized by the total energy produced. From least to … Continue reading FORUM: Level-3
FORUM: BAR
My fascination with hobby rocketry began in Arizona (4th grade), and resurfaced in Virginia (7th grade): both times I experimented with low-power rockets. I never wished to stop working with rockets, but my family moved often—usually to places which were not amenable to the flying of model rockets. Fast-forward to 2005, and I just survived … Continue reading FORUM: BAR
FORUM: Step-by-Step
I was a 4th grade student in public school in Sierra Vista, which at that time was a small but growing Arizona town. Our house was located at the outskirts of town—we were feet from the Sonoran Desert. Dad was a mathematical statistician from the University of Chicago. He worked long hours in Fort Huachuca. Mom … Continue reading FORUM: Step-by-Step
FORUM: Chicago Mini-Tsunami
A large body of research from around the globe reports that same-day barometric pressure and temperature are related to bone and muscle pain ratings made by humans. This is as (perhaps even more) apropos for bony fresh- and salt-water fish, and it may be particularly true for freshwater species living in shallow, constricted lakes and … Continue reading FORUM: Chicago Mini-Tsunami
FORUM: A New Year’s Tradition
Two top fliers in the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) high-power rocket (HPR) club of which I am a member, and the only rocketeers having their own radio call codes, were Mike (505) and his friend Zupe (555). Mike is a master amateur field engineer; an expert in field and launch systems preparation and operation, and … Continue reading FORUM: A New Year’s Tradition
FORUM: Power-Lining Coho Salmon
Coho salmon are a prized species targeted by shore anglers in the States bordering Lake Michigan, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Catching them from shore is possible because small groups of Coho cruise the shoreline within the range of a competent cast. However, there is a low probability of casting a lure or other … Continue reading FORUM: Power-Lining Coho Salmon
FORUM: Match the Hatch
My fishing compadre Tony taught me to fish Lake Michigan salmonids from shore, in locations within a one-day fishing/round-trip-car-drive from northern Chicago. Typically the best fishing required travelling south to Michigan (Berrien Springs at the Dam, St. Joseph River), or travelling north to Wisconsin (Waukegan, Kenosha). However, in the month of April, northern Chicago offers … Continue reading FORUM: Match the Hatch
FORUM: Big Fish
I often recall my “earliest” memory from six decades ago—the first episode in my life about which I have vivid recall of my intellectual and emotional responses. Prior to this event I never heard of nor saw any media reports about fishing. We had no TV. I didn’t know anything about nets. In the absence … Continue reading FORUM: Big Fish
FORUM: King Salmon in the Root River
For decades I monitored the start of the fall salmonid spawn run in north-eastern Illinois and south-eastern Wisconsin, along dammed lake-run rivers (and one power-plant discharge channel) spilling into Lake Michigan. When the water flow rate is high these streams propel scents associated with spawning fish out into the Lake, leaving a “trail of crumbs” … Continue reading FORUM: King Salmon in the Root River
FORUM: Lucky Fishing Pants
My first encounter with a brown trout happened accidentally in October, in Chicago, at Navy Pier. A few restaurants were open there then, otherwise the Pier was in the early stages of rehabilitative construction. I was there to see a friend who was assigned to a docked river-cruising gunboat. When I arrived I noticed a … Continue reading FORUM: Lucky Fishing Pants
