Mothers' Day 2017

I know I've used these pictures in the past, but I love them, as they do such a good job of capturing those special moms in my life...the first, pictured above with my children, is my mother, Rose Bragg.  What a special person and spectacular role model!  Then there's the woman (Hope, pictured below) who has not just put up with my antics and shortcomings for 25 years or so, but has become that which she always wanted to be--a wonderful mom!

But Hope had also a guiding light in her life--her mother, Ann Pruden:

Happy Mothers' Day, y'all!!

The last month has been a busy one for me, travel-wise.  The first of the work trips I'm highlighting was a short one to the northeastern Arkansas community of Pocahontas, where I presented to the Arkansas Historical Association's annual meeting.  This year's meeting had a World War 1 theme (it is the 100th anniversary of the US entry to that war), and like many small towns in Arkansas, Pocahontas has a memorial to World War 1 soldiers:

Now, while I had a grandfather who served in WW1, my talk focused on Arkansas soldiers who served in a special unit during the war procuring wood in France for the rest of the army. 

Pocahontas is a small town with a long history; the courthouse pictured above was built in the 1870s, and though no longer used for county government business, it is still used to host events like this meeting. 

The day after returning from this history meeting, I boarded a plane in Little Rock and flew to St. Paul, Minnesota, for the next installment of my Forest Service leadership training.  The building pictured below is the research office of the Forest Service at this site, where we spent most of our time training:

Most of the days we are learning a variety of strategies for dealing with many issues that leaders in our agency confront on a regular basis.  Of course, not every minute is in training, so here are some pictures of the other adventures my group had during this particular week-long stint...

Mall of America visit (this is the amusement part in the middle of this huge mall):

We also visited a raptor rescue facility on the same campus as the Forest Service research office:

And what would a trip to the Northwoods be without some bowling?

At the end of this training, I had a chance to drive over to visit my sister Lisa, who lives about a hour away.  I was able to get there before she had finished her work at the Colfax, Wisconsin, library:

I only had a short time available, so I only got to see some of Lisa's family, who were all busy with their day-to-day lives...Below, her daughter Leila was on her way out the door with her dad Jon to watch her big sister Emma play softball:

Lisa and I went out to a local establishment for their Friday fish fry--such a nice treat to get fried fish that isn't catfish!

And here's our obligatory selfie, outside of the "Buck Snort Bar and Grill" where we ate:

It's always good to get back home...Below, Stephen posed with his Lego Star Wars kit and Yoda ears I got him at the Mall of America:

Earlier this week I traveled to eastern Texas to participate in a two-day field tour looking at shortleaf pine restoration efforts.  Below is the Smoky the Bear statue on the fire danger sign at one of the Davey Crockett National Forest offices:

And here is a log truck pulling out some big pine logs from a logging site near our tour--there were only a dozen or 16 logs on this truck!

I have a bit of a break from travel in May, but we'll be back on the road again soon!