Do You Know Your Ethnic Mix?
"Your DNA has a story. It’s time to discover it,” invites an ad on the back cover of the February 10, 2014 issue of The New Yorker. “It’s easier than ever to discover your ethnic heritage – and possibly find new cousins along the way,” the advertisement continues....
Be My Valentine
"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." So says Charles M. Schulz. Valentine's Day is interpreted by many to include cards, chocolates, candlelight and roses. Some even break the bank buying expensive jewelry. Valentine's day was...
Purple Passages with Pictures: February 2014 edition
Think of February as God’s special gift of time sandwiched between all the hubbub of past holidays and the upcoming arrival of a busy spring. To me, February is the ideal month to regroup . . . to review where I’ve been and to rethink where I’m going. I have found it...
February Garden: Forlorn or Fabulous?
Ordinarily, I am proud of my patio garden. But January 2014 was tough in Florida: two nights in the 20s and several days around the freeze point. And so the plants in my garden took a beating. The impatiens, in spite of being covered, froze to death. The pentas...
What Will You Be Doing At 72?
Now you are probably thinking . . . age 72 is a long way off, or it's just around the corner. Either way, it's a question worth pondering. In 1700 the average life expectancy was 37. In fact, 40 would be pushing it. Yet, in that very year Mary Granville Pendarves...
False Pregnancy
If I swallow a water-melon seed, my stomach might swell up. If I touch freckle-faced Ricky with the dirty fingernails, I might grow a baby. Oh no! Those were my childhood fears. With a limited sex education, I tried never to swallow watermelon seeds or touch grimy...
Are You a Sneetch?
Last Sunday afternoon, we took our red-haired grand-kids, the Daltons, to the Jacksonville Symphony Family Series, featuring The Sneetches. There was a pre-concert Orchestra Zoo with dozens of kids standing in lines to bang on, blow into, or saw the strings of...
Neat vs. Messy
Delight in Disorder A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wantonness. A lawn about the shoulders thrown Into a fine distraction; An erring lace, which here and there Enthralls the crimson stomacher; A cuff neglectful, and...
Canned
I have just finished reading The Dirty Life, On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball. And today my blogger friend, Susan Nicholls, has posted a piece entitled “Canned” complete with appetizing photos of the canned goods, stored on shelves for savory eating on...
War and Peace: Rhyme & Reason
On the eve of the Gulf War exactly 23 years ago today, I took a walk in the brisk evening air. As I rounded the curve of Emerald Isle Circle West in our neighborhood, I noticed the scarlet blush in the sky at sunset. With that striking image in mind and an imminent...
Mennonites and Race: A Longenecker Lens
This week we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, a tribute to the man with a vision for racial equality in the twentieth century and beyond. Just so, this post pays tribute to his dream and his legacy through a Mennonite lens. "Jesus Loves the Little Children, All the...
Purple Passages with Pictures, January 2014 edition
VISIONS and DREAMS for 2014 A man must have dreams--memory dreams of the past and eager dreams of the future. I never want to stop reaching for new goals. - Maurice Chevalier Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he...
Moments of Extreme Emotion: 100th Post Mark
Today I have reached a milestone, 100 blog posts and counting. Thank you, thank you for all your clicks, views, and commentary so far. I am commemorating this event in pictures. Blogging is like life, up and down, sad and happy, rain and shine, day in and day out....
Up in the Garret
Books, books, books! I had found the secret of a garret-room Piled high with cases in my father’s name, Piled high, packed large,---where, creeping in and out Among the giant fossils of my past, Like some small nimble mouse between the ribs Of a mastodon, I nibbled...
Note to Vote + Grandma’s Pork & Sauerkraut Dinner
New year, new opportunity: Vote for My Gutsy Story @ http://soniamarsh.com/2013/12/vote-for-your-favorite-december-2013-my-gutsy-story.html Haven't read it yet? There's still time!...
Grandma’s Victorian Greeting: Happy New Year!
Here is a postcard from precisely 100 years ago: Grandma Fannie Martin Longenecker's New Year's greeting passed down to me and then to our daughter Crista who now displays it in a frame with her holiday decorations: They were called penny postcards for a reason! Yes,...
Moments of Extreme Emotion Series: Curio Cabinet Explosion
It was twilight. And twilight was turning to dusk as Cliff and I sat down to eat supper. He said, “Let’s light a candle.” She said, “Well, that’s a good idea. It’ll look pretty.” One of us said, “Let’s put the candle into the curio cabinet. The mirrors behind will...