by MarianBeaman | Feb 10, 2016 | blog, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, popular culture, Romance, Uncategorized
Gump-a-bump-a-rump-a! (Repeat – repeat) No driver wants to hear this coming from under her car hood, even if it is my aging Infiniti. When I reported these scary noises to my husband Cliff, he immediately went into Investigator Mode. His problem-solving scenario...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 20, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Reflection
A long, wavelike ridge of snow . . . formed by the wind: Sastruga, a word of Russian origin. A snowdrift is a beautiful thing if it doesn’t lie across the path you’ll have to shovel or block the road that leads to your destination. Prehistoric Humps James...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 13, 2016 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized
A Riddle I have no head, and a tail I lack, But oft have arms, and legs, and a back; I inhabit the palace, the tavern, the cot- ‘Tis a beggarly residence where I am not. If a monarch were present (I tell you no fable), I still should be placed at the head of the...
by MarianBeaman | Jan 6, 2016 | blog, Gratitude, Literature, Mennonite Lore, popular culture, Purple Passage, Quotations, Uncategorized
Have you started a diet? Renewed your gym membership or decided to walk more? Maybe you have resolved to cut down on Facebook time this year . . . Along with such New Year’s resolutions, some of my friends each year choose a guide word to help navigate the unknown...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 30, 2015 | blog, Christmas, Cliff Beaman artist, Family / Nostalgia, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Travel, Uncategorized
On Christmas Day 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida, the temperature stood at 85, at least twenty degrees above the normal daytime thermometer reading for this time of year. Over most of the USA, Christmas day was warmer than usual, the forecasters predicting a near...
by MarianBeaman | Dec 16, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Uncategorized
Mother’s house on Anchor Road has been sold. We sold it last fall, just a year ago. After more than seventy years, the Longeneckers do not own this house. But that doesn’t mean there are no memories or longings for home. The Welsh have a word for such a feeling,...