Summer adventures start here

The summer of '78 stands out from most of my childhood memories for the camping trip my family took across Europe. We lived in West Germany at the time (up north, near Denmark) and made our way south into Austria and Italy.

Every day a new adventure awaited us, from towering statues and classic architecture, to soaring mountains, blue lakes, and vast marble fields. The leaning Tower of Pisa threatened to fall on me as I stood in its shadow. The streets of Venice, if I looked closely, seemed to be sinking into the water (I kept tabs on the nearest gondola in case my family needed to flee an Atlantis-style catastrophe). And on a clear summer night, far from city lights, I laid eyes on the Milky Way for the first time.

Wonder of wonders!

And at every campsite we staked our tent, I beheld another wonder: scores of old men missing arms and legs. I asked my parents why so many men were missing limbs and they explained they were veterans of World War II. Hardships like that happened in life. I marveled at each amputee because it occurred to me each man had a war story that brought him to this point. Their stories were far richer than the little story I was building that summer, and yet there we were all gathered together... under the same sky.

Independence Day weekend

Fireworks. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and watermelon. Sunburns and slip-'n'-slides!

Is that what you think about when you think about the 4th of July?

Me too, but after sharing with you my camping adventure of '78, I'm thinking more about those veterans. We wouldn't have an Independence Day to celebrate without veterans, so here's a big thank you to everyone out there who served and is serving!

And thinking of America's Independence Day - and the war stories veterans carry - reminds me we all carry one kind of war story or another. So here's another big thank you to the One above who won the ultimate victory and secured our independence for all time!

Summer reading list

Just as everybody has a different story, everybody has a different list of stories they've read or want to read. Here's what I'll be reading with my kids this summer:

• The Dream Keeper Saga (book 1): The Dragon and the Stone, by Kathryn Butler
  
• The Brothers Grimm: 101 Fairy Tales
• The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
• Helium Farm, by Melinda Poling - get it free here https://dl.bookfunnel.com/wypc2fwndt
• Pax (book 1), by Sara Pennypacker
  
• Henry and the Chalk Dragon, by Jennifer Trafton
  

That should get us through July and August, but we may have time for another title or two. What books do you recommend?

Freebies & 99's

Pick up two eBook titles this 4th of July weekend for free:

• Into What Splendor
• The Lost and Found Journal of a Miner 49er: Vol. 3

Grab these titles for .99¢:

• The Lost and Found Journal of a Miner 49er: Vol. 1
• The Lost and Found Journal of a Miner 49er: Vol. 2

Stay safe and Up the Adventure!
Jack