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My Dad’s Bachelor Trip to Florida

by MarianBeaman | May 20, 2015 | blog, Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Uncategorized

Nose-to-the-Grindstone, that’s my dad. But I have proof in pictures that he once took a fling to Florida with his Lancaster County Mennonite buddies. Judging from the photos that remain and Mother’s comments, I can pretty much guarantee that there were no...

The Longenecker Sisters’ Road Trip, Part 1

by MarianBeaman | May 12, 2015 | blog, Family / Nostalgia, Nostalgia, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized

Girls’ road trips are part of the landscape of American pop culture. Who can forget Thelma and Louise? Wanting to take a short vacation from their dreary lives, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) head out from Arkansas to the Grand Canyon in a 1966 Ford...

Mennonites at the Beach 1950s style

by MarianBeaman | Jul 2, 2014 | Coming of Age, Family / Nostalgia, Memory, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Reflection, Travel, Uncategorized

Atlantic City, New Jersey was the beach mecca for vacationers on the East Coast in the early 1900s. Still dressed in fancy Victorian formality, vacationers caught the salt air as they strolled along the famous board-walk at the Steer Pier, a combination theatre and...

February Garden: Forlorn or Fabulous?

by MarianBeaman | Feb 8, 2014 | meditation, Neighborhood / Environment, Reflection, Uncategorized

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...

In Praise of Tree Guys

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...

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