Downton Abbey Gala Redux: Season 5
When I registered online for the 5th season premiere of Downton Abbey, there were fifty-nine (yes, 59!) salutations to choose from on the drop-down menu. These included Father, Monsignor, Cantor, Rabbi, Lieutenant Commander, Dean, Major, Mayor, and the humbler Mr. or...
Visions of the Little Match Girl: 1846 and 2014
What do Trayvon Williams, Michael Brown and the Little Match Girl have in common? Read on! The Little Match Girl - Hans Christian Andersen, 1846 On a cold winter’s eve, a poor girl shivering on the street tries to sell matches afraid to return home to her father who...
Moment of Extreme Emotion: 200th Post Mark with Julie & Julia
Welcome to my 200th blog post! It's here because you have visited this blog, a time or two, or maybe way more often. Writers write for many reasons, most importantly to express themselves. But most writers don't like to write in a void. Writing is communication. And...
Accepting the Red Heart: One Lovely Blog Award
Remember getting a gold or silver star on your homework papers in grade school? Well, writers who read each other's blog posts do something similar - they nominate those they admire for the One Lovely Blog Award. It's not a gold star. It's a red heart and looks like...
Signs and Wonders: Manheim and Elizabethtown, PA Style
The Brick House Cafe along Main Street in Manheim, Pennsylvania, is getting free advertising from me today. In a sister city named for its counterpart in Mannheim, Germany, The Brick House serves freshly prepared soups, salads, and sandwiches. It also serves up...
7 Things I’m Thankful For
My secret joys (and struggles) show up in my gratitude books. You can see some of them here. But my list this week has sprung from my 9-day trip to Pennsylvania to visit family and take care of Mother’s house in mid-November 2014. In her devotional book One Thousand...
What Color Makes You Sing?
In praise of color! God did not create the world in black and white. Our world vibrates with vivid color from the cerulean blue sky above to fluorescent coral reefs sea deep. Generally, colors are hues we see, but Neil Harbisson hears color. Now, you ask, what is it...
Moments of Discovery # 3: Two Butter Stories and an Autograph Book
In June Mother Longenecker and her daughters Marian and Janice created butter-shaking memories in a two-quart jar, making butter using three easy steps: Pour cream into 2-quart jar. Shake until you rattle and roll. Remove the congealed mass from the jar. Add a pinch...
At Home with Grandkids: Fun Stuff to Do
BAKE It's cold outside, maybe even Polar-vortex cold, and Saturdays with Grandma or Aunt or Mom will be spent indoors. One cold day three of our grandkids warmed up the house, at least the kitchen, with cupcake baking. Yes, it's fun to help mix up the batter and lick...
Purple Passages and Fine China
READING La Lectura es el viaje de los que no pueden tomar el tren. – F. Croisset (Reading is the journey of those who cannot take the train.) Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested . . . . – Sir...
How to Tell Your Children What’s What
Unlike Hansel and Gretel, whose mother tried to starve them and then lock them out of the house, Mother Longenecker provided well for her children and left behind, not white pebbles or bread crumbs, but hand-written notes tucked away to tag her heirlooms. Each note...
Playing Tag, The 2014 WIP Tour: Who’s Next?
On the playground of Rheems Elementary School, Red Rover, Hide and Seek and Tag were standard fare. I wrote about fun at recess in a blog post last September entitled Games We Played. In the blog world, I have been tagged in the 2014 Work in Progress (WIP) Blog Tour,...
What’s for Dinner? Dried Beef Gravy and . . .
"Just two generations ago, preparing meals was as much a part of life as eating," so says Mark Bittman in an article entitled How to Eat Now published in the October 20, 2014 issue of TIME magazine. Although a recent Harris poll reveals that 79% of Americans say they...
Hallowe’en: the Village, Valdemort, and a Video
Ten years ago grandsons Patrick and Curtis were one-year-olds at Hallowe'en. In October 2004 they lived far away from us in Chicago. Fortunately, their parents captured snapshots of them in costume, Curtis a pumpkin and Patrick, Tigger, both in store-bought outfits,...
Mom’s Accessories: Bonnets, Hankies, Pins and More
My Mother Ruth Landis Metzler was a simple girl who grew up on a farm near Lititz, Pennsylvania and attended Erb's Mennonite Church. As a young woman, she wore plain clothing and never cut her hair. Her adornment was of the biblical kind as the Apostle Paul...
Moments of Discovery # 2: Dad’s 1921 Report Card & Mom’s 1989 Car
The bustle in a house The morning after death Is solemnest of industries Enacted upon earth, -- The sweeping up the heart, And putting love away We shall not want to use again Until eternity. Emily Dickinson was referring to the morning after the death of a loved one,...
Train Lovers, Welcome Aboard
3 Snapshots from Memory Aunt Ruthie Longenecker takes us to Philadelphia, my first recollection of a train trip. I feel the rocking motion of the Pennsylvania Rail Road train car we occupy, the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rails, and the prize of the big city...
Purple Passages and a Teddy Bear
LEAVES Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons. – Jim Bishop Quotation, noun: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. - Ambrose Bierce...