Author Archives: William Koechling
Organic Coffee and Organic Babies
Share Our older daughter was born in our home on the small Maine island where we lived decades ago. Over the years we lost contact with Christina, the young midwife who attended Sarah’s birth. Today is Sarah’s 30th birthday. My wife’s and my thoughts and memories go back to Sarah’s middle-of-the-night birth in which we [...]
Posted in black & white photography, Uncategorized
Tagged Finca Los Nietos, Guatemala, home birth, organic coffee
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My Trips Down the Rabbit Hole
Share For a child, wonder and amazement is a gift and there is little distinction between fantasy and reality. Time can stand still, a girl can have underground adventures and a rabbit can sing. For some children, however, reality can take a cruel form that rivals fantasy. I saw little people. As a child I [...]
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, House, Lewis Carroll, migraine, migraine aura, perception
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My P.S. on Our Flashes of Hope Shoot
Share I recently wrote about our shoot for Flashes of Hope. The purpose of these sessions is to create portraits of some of the 12,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year. For families of terminally-ill children it is particularly important to preserve through photography the bravery, grace and dignity of their child. This is done [...]
Flashes of Hope Shoot
Share Cindy & I have looked forward to this since shooting this event last year. Flashes of Hope is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating powerful, uplifting portraits of children fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. In the photo here, sisters enjoy a moment at the Peds in the Weeds picnic sponsored by Advocate Lutheran [...]
I Use the Wayback Machine… and Return
Share I met Mrs. Stevens around 1970. I was 20 years old and living with my parents in a small apartment while I attended college nearby. She was a small, elderly lady that lived on the floor above us. I have no idea what sparked our conversation or even where our unlikely meeting took place. [...]
Using the “Obama Method”
Share In a post this past January I posed the question of the viability of genetic engineering as a solution to hunger in Africa as does the New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof. I have significant doubts as to the wisdom of using GMOs in any country and the subject continues to generate more heat than [...]
My Neighbor, the Carpenter
A baseball post in a gardening blog should not be confusing to those who appreciate both. For me, the anticipation of gardening and baseball – both said to have “seasons” – make Chicago winters bearable. ……………………………………………… Share My brother and I lived on Nelbon Avenue in Pittsburgh. It was a mostly blue-collar neighborhood where people [...]
Posted in history, Uncategorized
Tagged baseball, Elroy Face, Pittsburgh Pirates, Roy Face
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I’m a Bloomin’ Idiot
Share Years ago you could buy pretty much anything you wanted at a Woolworth’s store. As the Walmart of its day, it was a place I could find everything like toys, clothes, bb guns, pet supplies and have a quick soda or grilled cheese sandwich on the way out. But early spring was my favorite [...]
How I spent the Blizzard of 2011
Share I’m just about to plant a large portion of my garden – tomatoes, peppers, onions & broccoli – in flats, but am reflecting a bit. My wife & I returned from a week’s vacation in southern California to find more than two feet of snow on the ground. Chicago really got hit hard by [...]
World View From a Sweet Potato
Share I’m a fan of Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times op ed columnist. I like his insights into human rights issues. He writes with the authority of one who has lived in the field and he does so with courage, caution, a straight-forward style and usually with a sense of urgency. Kristof has been [...]