From their own site: “It is one of the Quad Cities oldest and most beautiful cemeteries, boasting century-old Oaks, gently rolling hills and knolls, and a beautiful reflecting pond near the cemetery entrance. “

The word “Chippiannock” is a Native American term which means “place of the dead”. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. You can make a nice 3-4 mile loop of this cemetery, while checking out some cool old headstones and mature trees.

Michigan is such a beautiful state! I find myself returning again and again for the incredible landscape and each time my Michigan bucket list grows longer rather than shorter.

When I went away to college at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, I was very excited for the beautiful campus. I got the dorm I wanted that sat right on Thompson Lake and walked through Thompson Woods each day to the student center and classes. There was also an arboretum just south of campus that I enjoyed walking at.

On a hike in San Diego circa May 2023 I ran into a pickle. Ahead of me lay a sloped sandstone ledge about a foot wide with a dropoff maybe 12 feet down into a rockbed. I saw nothing to hold on to if I started to fall. I'd already been sliding and now the risk to continue forward felt maybe too great...

A few years ago, I started to realize that I love winter in a way that most people do not. While bitter cold and dark days aren't exactly the height of joy, there is a peaceful magic in it that I deeply appreciate.  I notice it especially when I return home on a cold, crisp night. Standing at my back door in the dark, fumbling for keys, I will suddenly remember to look up and enjoy the night sky and the stars spread out above.

Monday, July 27, 2020
​I hurry to keep up with my trail angel, Flicker, as she leads me in from the parking lot to the Western Terminus. I don't want her to think I'm a slow poke, but I'm nearly in shock trying to take in the landscape. White pines tower on exposed cliffs over a swirling chocolate river. There are strange holes in the ground around me, filled with water and greened over with algae.

Friday, July 10th, 2020 (2:30AM)
I am awake because Matt is up and saying he doesn’t feel good. That he is nauseated. A pang of nausea hits me in the gut, too, and now my whole body wracks once with anxiety.