In 2015, I read 35 books - which is just under average for me. Per my stats at Goodreads, since I started keeping track on the site in 2010, I've read between 30 and 52 books in a given year (30 + 37 + 30 + 52 + 41 + 35 = 37.5 ( Read more... )

Dates have been set. The plane tickets have been purchased. The apartment has been booked. A fellow traveler friend has signed on to the vacation ticket. All that remains is arranging for the rental car, prioritizing the day trips, and easing into the beans and rice diet in order to pay for it all ( Read more... )

Growing up in eastern North Dakota, which is flatter than a pancake due to it having been the bottom of glacial Lake Agassiz, spring time was flood season. Every year, the snows would melt, the creeks and rivers would rise, and everyone along the Red River would hold their collective breath, waiting to see if towns would escape unscathed or if ( Read more... )