Post 6/2025. Cornwall UK. Hail March. New month. It's anything like the weather proverb: "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Gorgeous day. We did a three-plus mile walk along Church Lane to the West Cornwall Golf Club and then back on the upper, sometimes still muddy, footpath above the expansive Porthkidney Sands Beach. …
Author: John Bender
Hi, my name is John Bender, retired and loving it. I'm writing to help interested people cross bridges to and from the past. Stories from the past can shed light on life in the present and illuminate the future. We've got a lot of living to do. Let's do it!
Cheerfully afoot in Cornwall
Post 5/2025. Carbis Bay, Cornwall UK. Windy. Muddy. Overcast. More rain than needed. Who's complaining? Not me. We arrived on schedule and have had a warm welcome. Marilyn and Steve had us over for morning coffee. On Sunday we attended St Anta & All Saints church. On Wednesday Lynne kindly took us along to do …
Cornwall in prospect
Post 4/2025. Our travel to Cornwall UK is coming up. Boarding Passes printed. Scores of preparations completed. A friend humorously shortened my recitation of visits to health care providers to "all the ologists." I'm grateful to all medical people, family, and friends here and in Cornwall for their well and travel mercies wishes, and my …
Remembering Doris
Post 3/2025 Goshen IN. Sister-in-law Doris Mast died 12 days after her 92nd birthday. At the visitation many people remarked on how Doris was the queen of hospitality. Her memorial service took place on January 27. Fifty chairs were needed to seat her children, 12 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. As a youngster Doris begged her …
Celebrations, sorrow, soup, steps recalled
Post 2/2025 Goshen IN. The week included: Martin Luther King Day. Inauguration. Frigid temperatures. Looking Back, Looking Forward, Anabaptism at 500. Death of my sister-in-law Doris Mast at age 92. Ducks on the pond again. Soup. On January 21 area Mennonites gathered at College Mennonite Church in Goshen for a worship service celebrating 500 years …
A sniffle start
Post 1/2025 Goshen IN. What misery colds carry. Sniffles. Cough. Blahs. Concerns. Is it really just a common cold or one of the other superbugs that have a thing for our airways? Decaf tea with lemon and honey. Some OTC meds. No fever. Recovery seems afoot, even as worries linger. That’s my welcome to early …
Ready or not, a new year awaits
Post 45/2024 Goshen IN. Since my last post on November 4 . . . what to say . . . life has moved on. This week we bid adieu to dear President Jimmy Carter who died on Sunday at age 100. The tributes and reflections are heartwarming and true. September. The potted Gerbera daisies did …
Taking a break
Post 44/2024. I've no breaking news, no bombshell report, no polls comment, no recap of what I've read in various media outlets about the 2024 US election cycle; I have only one word: Harris. That said, I add, I'm taking a break. Tasks to do and we have travel plans where our tablet stays home. …
From Massachusetts to Maine to home
Post 43/2024. Acadia National Park, Maine. Spent three fabulous nights here with niece Jan and great-niece Jenny and their husbands John and Rory (Jenny and Rory live in MA). Fine weather. Engaging walks. Tasty home-prepared meals. Trail picnic of cheese sandwiches, chips, chocolate, apple, water. Sunsets. Lighthouses. Maine features what's rugged and wild. Coast. Winters. …
By road from Indiana to Massachusetts
Post 42/2024. Boston MA. Marty and I are soaking up east coast vibe with niece, great niece and their husbands. We rode with Jan and John to the home of Jenny and Rory in a Boston suburb. Left home at 5am, arrived a bit after 7pm (850 miles). We were met with a grand welcome, …
It's About Now 