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Sharpening Knives, Carving Turkey, and Being Thankful

Sharpening Knives, Carving Turkey, and Being Thankful

by MarianBeaman | Nov 15, 2023 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Uncategorized

‘Tis the season for roasting turkey. . . carving the bird. . . and expressing gratitude   You can find dozens of tips on how to carve a turkey online. I found this one, on a website dubbed Webstaurant, demonstrating in 59 seconds flat a surefire way to...
Book Club Mom Meets Mennonite Daughter

Book Club Mom Meets Mennonite Daughter

by MarianBeaman | Nov 8, 2023 | blog, book review, Education, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized

How do you listen to a podcast or Zoom interview? Sit and stare into space? Take a walk? Lounge on your couch? Chop vegetables for soup? Multi-task in some other way? Last month, Barbara Vitelli, also known as blogger Book Club Mom, interviewed me via Zoom. She was...
Craving Sleep: More Than 40 Winks

Craving Sleep: More Than 40 Winks

by MarianBeaman | Oct 4, 2023 | blog, book review, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Quotations, Uncategorized

Do you crave sleep? Do you have a hard time going to sleep? Or, staying asleep?     Falling Asleep Sleep is a sweet respite from the daily pressures of life. I treasure what Walt Whitman called the “free flight into the wordless, / Away from books, away from...
Show Time: Life Stages

Show Time: Life Stages

by MarianBeaman | Sep 13, 2023 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite History, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized

As a kid, I helped my aproned Grandma Longenecker pick strawberries in her garden close to Anchor Road. As a teen, I packaged bologna at Baum’s Bologna company near Elizabethtown, PA. During my sophomore year in college, I worked as script editor for WEMC, the station...
If We’d Open People Up

If We’d Open People Up

by MarianBeaman | Aug 30, 2023 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Quotations, Uncategorized

  “If we’d open people up, we’d find landscapes.”     ~ Agnès Varda I found this provocative line in a book I read recently (You Could Make This Place Beautiful by poet Maggie Smith, whose life has been rooted in Ohio). Seeing this line in her memoir, my mind...
Carolyn’s Treasures: Gifts that Keep on Giving

Carolyn’s Treasures: Gifts that Keep on Giving

by MarianBeaman | Aug 9, 2023 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Gratitude, meditation, Memory, Nostalgia, Quotations, Uncategorized

Early in the morning on my birthday three Mondays ago, my friend Carolyn sang me the birthday song on my iPhone. I heard her warble the notes to “Happy Birthday to Yooooo” with heart and soul. As always, the notes struck a chord with me. We have exchanged the familiar...
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