by MarianBeaman | Mar 4, 2020 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
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,...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 26, 2020 | blog, Reflection, Tips, Uncategorized
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...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 19, 2020 | Award, blog, Conflict, Literature, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Quotations, Romance, Tips, Uncategorized
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,...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 12, 2020 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, popular culture, Uncategorized
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:...
by MarianBeaman | Feb 5, 2020 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
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...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 29, 2020 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, neighborhood, Uncategorized
by MarianBeaman | Jan 22, 2020 | blog, Tips, Travel, Uncategorized
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...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 15, 2020 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Ukraine, Uncategorized
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...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 8, 2020 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized
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...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 18, 2019 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
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...