Mementos from Nanny Winnie
I had to make some hard decisions when we moved last fall. I had several bins of things from my parents’ house, including mementos from their lives and from my grandparents’ lives and gifts that they gave me over the years. Some of the hardest to get rid of were items that had belonged to […]
Being Present in 2025
Here we are—another year begins. I start 2025 with both hope and trepidation. Hope, because it is a new beginning, and I have many things I can explore in my new home—new museums and parks, new cultural events, new friends. But trepidation, because so many things in my life are uncertain. My husband’s doctors are […]
Merry Christmas!
Our Christmas today will differ from how my husband and I have celebrated in years past. For the first time in decades, we will spend it in the Seattle area. We will also see our granddaughter (together with her parents) on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is a treat. (Though next year, she […]
Over the River and Through the Woods (and the Mountains), To Grandmother’s House We Go
For most of our marriage, my husband and I have traveled to one or the other set of parents to celebrate the holidays. Usually, we went to his parents’ home in Marshall, Missouri, which was only 90 miles from our house. The last time we celebrated a holiday there was a year ago—Thanksgiving 2023. Since […]
O Christmas Tree (A New Version)
For most of the forty-seven Christmases my husband and I have been married, we have had a real Christmas tree. Even many of the years when we traveled across the country to celebrate, we bought and decorated a real tree. There were a few seasons when we skipped the tradition, but not many. Some years, […]
Walking a New Beach in December
I’ve written before about how much I love the beach. Usually, my visits to the beach have been in summer time, or if in winter, they’ve been to beaches in warm climes. This past Sunday, December 1, my husband and I strolled along Richmond Beach, just fifteen minutes from our apartment. The air temperature was […]
Growth of the West Coast in the Mid-1800s and Beyond
Oregon City, now a suburb of Portland, Oregon, was one of the largest settlements in the West in the 1840s. Located at the Willamette Falls, which halted all boat traffic on the Willamette River, Oregon City was a natural stopping point for pioneers from the East. Starting with the Great Migration of 1843, Oregon City […]
Zooming Again
After 45 years in Missouri, I left many friends behind when my husband and I moved to Seattle. Some ties are hard to keep, but Zoom makes it easier. We all got used to Zoom and other online meeting platforms during the pandemic. Before March 2020, I had participated in online webinars, but I’d only […]
Draft 2 of My Work-in-Progress Is Done!
This past weekend, I finally finished Draft 2 of my work-in-progress. Because of our cross-country move, it took me many weeks longer than it should have. I finished Draft 1 in late May, so this second draft took almost six months. Fortunately, it hangs together pretty well. And now, on to Draft 3. I hope […]
Minor Adventures Along the Shore
Now that my husband and I are functional in our new apartment (though not entirely unpacked), we have begun to do a little exploring. When we have the time to drive around, I find myself seeking sea and mountain views, things we did not have in Kansas City. So far, we haven’t ventured far. We’ve […]