by MarianBeaman | Aug 10, 2013 | Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Lists, Memory, Purple Passage, Uncategorized
Purple Passages made its debut on July 10. Here is the August 10, 2013 installment. Why people read 1.7.94 We read books to know we are not alone. William Nicholson Love to children 4.2.89 The love you give your children is like black paper: it absorbs and you...
by MarianBeaman | Aug 3, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Neighborhood / Environment, Tips, Tree surgery, tree surgery, Uncategorized
3 Stories in One The certified arborist surveys the 16 tall oaks on our property in Florida and pauses at one: “I don’t like the looks of that tree,” he warns. “Its bark looks splotchy and the ground around it feels spongy.” He taps near the root with his...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 31, 2013 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
The whole family crams into the gray 1951 Studebaker: Our family of five, Daddy, Mommy, Janice Jean and I (Mark isn’t born yet), Aunt Ruthie and Grandma–seven stuffed into an airplane cockpit, it feels like. We don’t take two cars because we are...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 27, 2013 | Coming of Age, Conflict, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
The Martin clan gathers together for large family meals at my Grandma Longenecker’s house because Grandma, the oldest in her family, is a wonderful cook and has an enormous kitchen. Everybody likes Grandma, my dad’s mother. Grandma Fannie was a Martin and the Martins...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 24, 2013 | Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Recipes, Southern lady friends, Uncategorized
Plan A The sweet aroma of ham-loaf baking wafts through the house as I hurry to welcome my Southern friends at the front door. They are in for a real treat: ham-loaf from Wenger’s Fine Meats in Elizabethtown, PA brought shrink-wrapped in my suitcase on the plane, My...
by MarianBeaman | Jul 20, 2013 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized
Here we are, Juliets without our Romeos When Mom says “sca-doo!” at home, we know we can find amusement at Grandma’s house. Aside from the mysteries of the woods behind her house, other attractions include a slope where lilies of the valley...
