Down the Rabbit Hoel

Stories of family, creativity, and diverse distractions.

Why I love backpacking Part 4: Seasons – Winter

Every season has something to offer when you are out in the woods. We haven’t done a ton of winter camping, but we enjoy getting out whenever we can.

Merry Christmas!

Michelle and I would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Holidays and a Joyous New Year!

Why I Love Backpacking Part 3: Foggy Mornings

When you are out backpacking, waking up in the morning and seeing the sunrise is a beautiful thing. Some mornings are foggy and provide a soft view of new beginnings.

Sometimes you are looking out over a lake.

Morning fog over Lake Monroe – taken in 2013

Happy birthday, Aunt Fran!

Frances Veronica Link was born December 18, 1926 to William John and Elizabeth Wellman Link in West Point, Iowa. She lived there until she graduated high school.

Fran, Georgie, and Louise Link, 1928

Gifts to my future self – greasing life’s squeaky wheels

The holiday season seems like an appropriate time to talk about gifts. It is nice to be given a gift, and even better to give gifts. One of our traditions is to wrap our gifts in interesting packages – to disguise what it really is. This post isn’t about gifts to others, but gifts to my future self.

Presents from a few years back. Walt was extremely creative!

Mapping out your family history

When you are researching your family history, learning where they lived helps you find out more information about them. It’s even better when you can see who their neighbors were and where that store they owned sat.

Image shows a map of West point Iowa in 1916, with the city colored light green. All text is hand written, with the names of various landowners written in.
A plat map of West Point, Iowa from 1916. The map shows things like the post office, churches, schools, and the fair grounds south of town.

We can see on this map that the hotel is in section two, lot ten. The post office is across the square in section five, lot eighteen.

RPG Props: A Wanted Poster for Some Real Scoundrels

A good prop can make an RPG session really memorable. A map written on actual parchment, for example, grabs the imagination a little harder than the same drawing on a page ripped from a spiral notebook. Good props help the players feel immersed in the game, and give the setting verisimilitude.

Some purchased adventures include such handouts. But if you’re writing your own adventures, you have to make your own props too.

And if you play online, the props have to be digital.

Happy anniversary Henry and Ada Link Schippert

Henry Schippert and Ada Link were married on November 29, 1922 in Edina, Missouri.

Henry and Ada on their wedding day.

Homemade bagels need smoked salmon!

We enjoy bagels with salmon, and several years ago, we started smoking our own salmon. We have an electric smoker, which is convenient for the job. You can find my bagel recipe here.

The image shows a plate with a pile of smoked fish sections on it.
Several pounds of smoked salmon, ready to enjoy.

Happy birthday to a first generation American: Anna Wellman Vonderhaar

Anna Wellman Vonderhaar was born on November 27, 1884 in West Point, Iowa. Her parents were Elizabeth Terborg and Bernard Wellman. She was the first of five children born to the couple. Both of her parents were born in Germany.

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