“There'll be the lightning bugs with their Morse code display,And shooting stars and constellations to befriend;The dragonflies will keep us from going astray,As we search for new adventures 'round every bend.-excerpted from the poem 'The Huge Playroom that is Nature' in the book FROM GUAM TO CROWN CITY CORONADO (THANKS TO HERMANN, MISSOURI): A JOURNEY IN POESY”

“.....I'm certain I asked for a cowboy one December past--For I wanted the excitement of pioneers to last;I ached to sing with a fiddle, speak with a drawl and twang;I surely requested John Wayne to be part of my gang.Of course I dreamed of a cowboy in those Yuletides of yore--For I wanted that ace, that corral fighter, that scout roar;I ached for the authentic frontier hero of the West;I surely requested the sacred battleground's finest.I did pray Santa'd give me a cowboy some time ago--For I wanted a legend in denim wrangler for beau;I ached to be rounded up safely by my saddled knight;I surely requested I be prospected, mined, settled right...-----excerpted from the poem 'A Cowboy For Christmas' in the book FROM GUAM TO CROWN CITY CORONADO (THANKS TO HERMANN, MISSOURI): A JOURNEY IN POESY, by Mariecor Ruediger”

“Why do we keep believing that we can control nature,even as it banishes us repeatedly from our homes in search of new fertile ground?”

“An epigram a day keeps the mind from going astray.”

“We should come home from far, from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day, with new experience and character.”

“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.”