Geoff Rostan first encountered alpacas in a travel magazine pulled from an airplane seatback. Intrigued, he began casual research which gradually intensified as the stresses of the corporate world mounted. Like more and more North Americans smitten with the animals, Rostan decided to try his hand at alpaca farming. It was the genesis of the Timber Ridge Alpaca Farm.
When you first meet Shelly Dutch, you’d better be wearing a good pair of shoes. If she’s not counseling clients in an individual, family or group session, she’s probably moving. Tom Farley, who heads The Chris Farley Foundation, describes her as “one of the most dynamic people in teen counseling in Madison, if not the whole state of Wisconsin.” One of her staff members, Cory Divine, states that Dutch is “a powerhouse of energy and conviction.”
Being a Warrior is about conquering death. Death is the ultimate mystery. It is intimidating because of its severity and how absolutely personal it is. Death is non-negotiable. Death affects individuals.
When Big League Wiffle Ball's Midwest Managers Cpt Cory Newmann and Sgt Ben Biddick were deployed to Iraq, they brought the yellow bat with them.
I live in Wisconsin. The state that even made Vince Lombardi think twice. In “When Pride Still Mattered,” David Maraniss wrote about the Lombardi family’s response to the Wisconsin winter as they rounded Chicago and headed north toward Green Bay: “…[Lombardi's son] looked out in disbelief…at snowdrifts higher than car level lining both sides of the road. I had no idea snow got that big and tall. We were up and talking and then it got real silent in the car.”
Alaskan glaciers gnaw upon mountains grinding them into silt. This silt suspends in water droplets and merges with the earth to form expanses of mud. These mudflats possess properties similar to wet, hardening concrete. During low tide, visitors who are unaware of this dangerous phenomenon, occasionally venture onto these mudflats. They find themselves embedded in this mud, unable to loose their legs from its grip. Mercilessly, the sea inches its way back to high-tide. Without immediate intervention that which began as an exhilarating walk through the power and beauty of nature ends in rude, brutal tragedy.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” -Anne Bradstreet