Irene North – Page 38

Keep flying. There’s no good pizza here.

On 2018-10-15

Paul’s mushroom pizza. There is no way I would eat anything with those toppings. Paul said it was tasty and looked like a forest on top of his pizza.

The Flyover Brewing Company opened a little more than a month ago and people in town have been raving about how good their beer is. They also claim the pizza is delicious and everyone should eat there.

A couple of friends visited the first week they were open and raved about the beer. They wanted to try the chicken wings, but the business had run out of them. I frowned at that comment. How do you run out of chicken wings when wings and pizza is all your business sells. Still, I figured I’d give them a try. This pizza was supposed to be so tasty that even I, the great pizza snob, would like it.

Dust, dirt, life, and peacefulness are only a short drive away

By Irene

On 2018-10-14

In Nebraska, Photos

Carter Canyon WMA.

I crossed the old wooden bridge over the canal on County Road 17 and continued on. The dirt road makes an almost ninety degree turn just up ahead before winding back to the left, then right, ending in a small, open area. A sign lets you know you all the people and organizations who have made this area possible. The Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area parking area is uneven and rocky. It’s just a dead end, but only for a vehicle.

Broken

By Irene

On 2018-10-13

In Poetry

A final thought on social media and why it needs a diminished role in my life

By Irene

On 2018-10-07

In Ramblings

Carter Canyon WMA.

The last two weeks have been incredibly difficult to get through. As with any trauma work, there will be good and bad times, progress and setbacks. This past week was one of the more difficult ones, but three friends stepped up to help keep me on track and to be that inner voice of rationality when my own inner voice could not. To them, I am eternally grateful.

As for where I go next, it has to be spending more time offline doing what I love (reading, writing, being in nature) and less online, even though I know that means losing touch with people.

The animals that make me smile

By Irene

On 2018-10-06

In Photos

Kit had only arrived at Riverside Discovery Center, but I got to sit and play with him for a little while after his training was completed for the day.

I cannot resist spending time at the zoo. This is such a well-known concept at the Star-Herald that if I happen to not be in the office for a few hours, people assume I am at Riverside Discovery Center hanging out with the animals. It is an incredible place of conservation, survival, and care that it is often the first place I go to when my mind needs to be calmed.

How to keep yourself occupied during a marathon

By Irene

On 2018-10-01

In Photos

As I was waiting for the first runner to arrive, I took several photos that I later stitched into this panorama.

Each year, the Monument Marathon in Gering attracts runners from around the world to the unique course in western Nebraska. All reporters are required to spend the day covering the event. Although the work is mandatory, I enjoy volunteering to take photographs in front of the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

Why we don’t report

By Irene

On 2018-09-24

In Ramblings

I still remember the dust particles in the air. I remember the trees blossoming. I remember the punches to face. I remember being dragged down a flight of stairs. I remember never having no being taken as an answer.

Keeping an open mind

By Irene

On 2018-09-23

In Nebraska

A bullet casing flies through the air as Kris Paronto takes target pracitce at Bluffs Shooters in western Nebraska.

As I traveled through the back roads of Scotts Bluff County and into the southern edge of Sioux County, I looked all around me. A red-tailed hawk sat on the wooden cross beam of a telephone line watching me as I approached. It kept a keen eye on my car until I stopped. Before I had a chance to take my camera out of its bag, the bird flew away. Knowing I didn’t have the zoom lens to track it and take its picture, I sat for a few moments watching it sail into the distance.

I continued my journey a little farther north to the Bluffs Shooters range for an active shooter training course I had been assigned to cover day one of a two-day event. As I pulled in just after 9 a.m., two men greeted me and told me I could park my car anywhere. They were happy someone from the media had come out to see what they were doing. I was less than ecstatic to be there.

Merde de chien

By Irene

On 2018-09-16

In Stories

Middletown, New York is a city with plenty of parks and designated play areas among the shopping centers, supermarkets, and concrete jungle, but, if you are a kid, there are also plenty of wooded areas to explore and step away from the trappings of city life.

I was supposed to be on a historical tour

By Irene

On 2018-09-09

In Nebraska, Photos

A butterfly soars above the ground along the path to the Belmont Tunnel.

Each year, the Sioux County Historical Society Museum in Harrison, Nebraska hosts a historical tour around a portion of the county. This year’s trip took us around the eastern part of the county with highlights about the early-day settlers of Sioux County, family plots, schools, the Agate to Andrews Mail Route, and stops in Marsland and Belmont.