Writing: The Consistency of Voice
I mentioned several months ago that I had resurrected a short story I wrote in college and was editing it. I shared a draft of the revised story recently with my critique group. One of my partners commented after our meeting, “You know, Theresa, it’s amazing how much your voice at seventeen sounds like you today.” […]
Life Without Electricity
Sunday morning the electricity went out in our house. It seems to happen more and more frequently. The lines in our subdivision are underground, so usually the lights just flicker, or we get our power back after a minute or two. But Sunday morning it was out for over an hour, from about 7:30am until about 9:00am. […]
Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park
My father and I took a day last week to go to Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park in Washington State. It was the first time either of us had seen this part of the park. The lake itself is a gem, nestled between forested hills. When we arrived, the water was perfectly calm and […]
Husbands, History, Trivia, and Corsets
My husband has always been a student of military and naval history. He spouts off bits of arcane knowledge – types of cannon, length of ships, dates of battles – which really don’t matter to anything or anyone (at least, they don’t matter to me). On our recent visit to the Museum of the Oregon […]
Clear Lakes and Surprises
This summer my husband and I visited two Clear Lakes – one in Iowa, and one in Oregon. Despite their same names, the lakes are quite different. But each lake delighted us with surprising features and surroundings. We stopped by the Clear Lake in Iowa on our way back to Kansas City from Minnesota in […]
Three Island Crossing on the Snake River
As I mentioned in my August 15 post last year, by mid-August the wagon trains to Oregon were following the Snake River. At the time, the Snake was called the “Lewis Fork” of the Columbia River (named after Meriwether Lewis). The Oregon Trail followed this river for 300 miles from Fort Hall through what is […]
Dressing for Funerals
I seem to be going to more funerals these days. Not only is the generation ahead of me passing away, but a few of my peers are beginning to fall as well. It used to be easy to dress for a funeral. I took out my black skirt suit – or navy blue, on occasion […]
The Good Big Sister: Family Myths From Generation to Generation
I’ve written before about family myths (see here and here). A recent family reunion brought more some of our myths to mind. Growing up, I was the Good Big Sister – at least that’s how my parents perceived me. My siblings probably always disagreed. I was the oldest child. One brother was just 17 months younger […]
A Modern Day Trek to Oregon City: Two Museums and the Willamette Locks
Once Oregon City was a thriving town at the end of the Oregon Trail, the largest settlement in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first city in the U.S. west of the Rockies to be incorporated. Now it is overshadowed by Portland, which it once eclipsed in size and importance. On a recent trip to […]
Favorite (and Forgiving) Peach Cobbler Recipe
It is peach season in Missouri. If it is peach season, it is time for peach cobbler, one of my favorite desserts. We like to buy our peaches from Schreiman Orchards in Waverly, Missouri, but any fresh peaches will do. Canned peaches will do in a pinch. I don’t really believe in recipes, which is […]