Evolution of the American Flag
The United States just celebrated its 245th birthday on Sunday, July 4, 2021. In recognition of this event, last week I created a graphic to use in promoting my novel, Lead Me Home. I used an image of the current U.S. flag in the graphic, but that got me thinking about what flag the United […]
2021 Historical Novel Society Conference
Last week I attended my first Historical Novel Society conference. I’ve been to other writing conferences in the past, but this was special, because historical fiction writers are my tribe. The conference was virtual, and the sessions were recorded and will be posted for attendees to review, so I have only just begun to tap […]
William S. Ladd: Tycoon in 1860s Oregon
One of the story lines in the novel I am working on now involves a businessman in 1864 seeking to increase his investments in the burgeoning new state of Oregon. Readers of my earlier novels will remember Caleb (Mac) McDougall. As he explores his business opportunities, it seems that every time he turns around he […]
Return to Normal: Good and Bad
Last month I wrote about reopenings. Those have continued apace, and my life is slowly returning to pre-pandemic patterns. I no longer gear up for trips to the grocery store or drugstore as if I were heading into battle. I don’t even wear a mask in most stores. I go to Mass each weekend. I’ve […]
Bird Watching
I’ve never been a bird watcher. I don’t really care about counting the number of species or specimens I see, nor to I want to travel just to look for birds. And yet, in my new home (we moved almost two years ago) and sitting on my lovely screened porch, I do enjoy watching the […]
Adult Children and Random Trips in June
June is a good month for travel. Most places are not yet too hot, yet the weather is reliably warm (usually). As I searched for a topic for today’s post, I came across photographs of a couple of trips my husband and I took in past Junes. 2007 and 2008 weren’t too long ago in […]
Politics in 1864: The National Union Party
The news in 2021 is full of stories of political conflict. Republicans are split between Trumpists and Never Trumpers with economic and social conservatives scattered across the mix. Democrats are spread from moderates to liberals to progressives. But as a student of American history, I have come to believe that most of the political controversies […]
On “Renascence” and Reopenings
In junior high and high school, my favorite poem was “Renascence,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Millay wrote “Renascence” when she was only nineteen years old, which might explain why I found it so appealing when I was also in my teens. Something in its emotiveness spoke to my adolescent angst. The poem begins simply […]
On Birthday Cakes for Children, Then and Now
I mentioned in an earlier post that the employee cafeteria at Hallmark Cards where I worked used to bake and decorate special-order cakes for employees to purchase. They would even match the cake decorations to the party goods that Hallmark used to sell. In my efforts to simplify my life as a working mother, I […]
Alien Terrain on Earth: Craters of the Moon National Monument
Six years ago in late April, my husband and I drove from Washington State to our home in Kansas City. I had decided to buy my father’s car from his estate, and we needed to get it across country. We drove much of the Oregon Trail route—in reverse, from west to east—with a few stops. […]