Birds, Bees, and the Bubonic Plague
Sheltering in Place Shielding masks Social distancing SOAP – and plenty of it! These are expressions seldom heard before mid-March 2020 when I noticed the Covid-19 virus had spread to became a pandemic. Scientists speculate that a 55-year old person from Hubei...
Tips from Two Quaker Oats Boxes
Two Quaker Oats boxes sit side by side, both cylindrical, cardboard boxes. One (on the left) is labeled “Quick” Oats and the other “Steel Cut.” One takes one minute to cook, the other 25-30 minutes. Both varieties have similar taste and texture, but they are not...
April Hosts Mennonite Daughter in April!
April Yamasaki is hosting Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl this week. April, a Mennonite pastor and editor of Purpose magazine, is author of more than a dozen books, including Sacred Pauses and Four Gifts, a book I have reviewed. We’ve been online friends...
My Brother Mark and the Easter Miracle
Death and Resurrection Dead plant comes to life Rain falls and within seconds dried-up moss that's been virtually dead for decades unfurls in an explosion of green. The microscopic creatures living in the moss come out to feed. Quotes and photos above...
A Cat Tale: How do you Accommodate?
Crista: Will you come over and feed the kitties while we are gone for a few days? I have a cat sitter coming in during the day for the wet food, but it would help if you did the night feeding. We are taking the kids to Savannah during spring break. Mom (me): Why sure!...
Do You Have 2020 Vision?
Do you have 20/20 Vision? I hope so, but if not, maybe you get by with a little help from your friends, as I do: Eyeglasses help So does my ophthalmologist Artist Monet suffered from cataracts in both eyes, but still produced lovely impressionistic...
A Lesson from Aunt Ruthie’s Grandfather Clock
Someone has said, "Grandfather clocks come with two simple instructions" First, don't let it run down Second, don't wind it too tight Aunt Ruthie's grandfather clock sat in a corner of the sitting room, a fixture during most of my childhood. Actually, at...
Cherries in the Snow
March weather in many parts of the world is temperamental, alternating between tempestuous and tranquil, hence the saying, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb! A. E. Housman alludes to ambivalent March weather in his poem, Loveliest of trees,...
The Seven-Year Itch: a Blogiversary
With this blog post, edging toward # 500 posts, I celebrate 7 years of blogging. Yes, SEVEN, my perfect number! One of my faithful blog readers, L. Marie in El Space has just celebrated her 7th blogiversary with her clever memes Harry and Kitten. Her blog is...
80-Year-Old Publishes Steamy Saga
Writers don’t usually get recognition beginning at age 80. And often they don’t write steamy sagas at that age either. Yet Roberta George, a Valdosta, Georgia author, has been nominated for a Townsend Prize, so says a review of her novel, The Day’s Heat,...
Love Letters 2020
In early February, ten church friends and I enjoyed a matinee production of Love Letters at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville. Before the show, my new friends (not to be confused with my special Southern Lady friends) and I feasted on one of the two:...
Classmate Carol Shares Secrets
Last week, Carol Reighter and her husband John met Cliff and me at Panera in Jacksonville. I knew Carol from Elizabethtown Area High School as Carol Hall, headed for nursing school in Harrisburg after she graduated. My memoir Mennonite Daughter has brought us together...
Wordless Wednesday: Sleigh Ride
Meeting Liesbet: Close Encounters of the Best Kind
Who is Liesbet? Liesbet, a writer and memoirist I met in November 2015 on my blog, visited our home last week with her husband Mark and furry "daughter" Maya: A teenager when a world map captivated her attention, Liesbet has pursued her dream to roam the world ever...
A Souper Day!
Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. ~ Marge Kennedy Has a tub of soup or stew been bubbling away on your stove tops lately? At the...
2020 Vision, Color It Beautiful
The Riddle What is black and red and green with seven significant flames? The Answer The candles of Kwanzaa, an observance designed to review the old year and establish goals for the new. The word Kwanzaa is a Swahili word and means "first fruits."...
A New Face in My Memoir Photos
Late Thursday afternoon last week, I watched Howard Landis walk toward our door, his wife Faythe following him. Facebook had revealed that Howard is related to me through Fannie Martin Longenecker, my maternal Grandmother. Now they had responded to our invitation to...
Fred, Bunny, Eva and I Reckon with Forgiveness
What do Fred Rogers, Ruth Graham, Eva Kor, and I have in common? Read on to find out! During the 2019 holiday season, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” has played in theatres all across the nation. The movie is a tribute to Fred Rogers, the legend of children’s...