Stirrings from the empty nest

It's amazing, really, how little things can suddenly occupy your "brain time." There are big issues in the world to consider. ...

When my kids were small -- very small -- and I'd take them out somewhere, inevitably some person would stop to pinch their cheeks and lo...

On one of the aviation Internet lists I frequent, an acquaintance is upset this week. It seems he was out flying his small plane on Saturda...

I know the many thousands of Stirrings fans are anxious to get away to the south shore of Lake Superior. So here's the place for you. To...

On Saturday, Warren and Karen Starkebaum and Carolie and I headed to the ferry in Bayfield for a trip to Madeline Island, about a 20 minute ...

Carolie and I (and the boys) have lived in the Midwest for over 15 years now and when you get down to it, it's odd how little we've ...

Photo: Warren Starkebaum This weekend -- I think it's this weekend -- is the 35th reunion of the Fitchburg High School Class of 1972. I...

Every now and again at Oshkosh -- and it's usually about this time in the week -- I see or hear something that causes me to note, "...

There's a sameness to AirVenture that is quite often comforting. Most of the vendors are in the same place each year, we certainly see t...

Too tired tonight to write anything. Doug Reeves took a bunch of pictures which you can find on his Web site (Please, Doug, feel free to wr...

I only got down inside the show today long enough to go to the FAA Safety Forum on surviving forced landings. A rash of RV deaths of late, a...

As a general rule -- in my day job -- I'm not a particularly well-liked individual. Let's just say that it's not in my DNA. But ...

With the RV BBQ requiring a tremendous amount of shopping and set-up -- I usually start in earnest on Tuesday -- Monday was the only day I r...

Most of Sunday, like most of my time so far, has been taken up with socializing, although I visited the homebuilt camping area and was start...

Is big... And here's some pictures my camping mate, Warren Starkebaum took...

Oshkosh has become more of a social visit for me over the last few years. I rarely watch the air show anymore, except if I'm sitting at ...

Another year, another week at Oshkosh for the grounded pilot. I love Oshkosh -- or at least the week when there's the big air festival h...

I took last summer off from work, cashing in my banked 6-8 weeks of vacation time. It was one of the best things I ever did. This summer, I...

This week, ESPN Sportscenter has been presenting a series of Make A Wish stories, in which sick or -- in the worst cases -- dying kids are g...

We have been talking in the newsroom the last few days about the way we cover stories. I can't go into the particulars, but part of it i...