On Pools and Lakes in the Summertime
This summer, our outdoor activities might be limited because of the pandemic. When I was a teenager, as soon as the school year was over, we spent a lot of time by the water. I’ve written about Coeur d’Alene Lake many times on this blog. But there were also swimming pools. The YMCA in my […]
Random Photos: A Summer Trip with the Grandparents in Simpler Times
This set of random photos came from an envelope my father labeled “Cannon Beach.” Most of the pictures in the envelope were of a trip my parents took with my kids to Cannon Beach, Oregon. I’ve written before about other trips to Cannon Beach—most recently we were there for a family reunion with my husband’s […]
What Am I Supposed To Do?
I deliberately try to keep this blog apolitical. Yet, the theme of this blog is “one writer’s journey through life and time,” and sometimes my journey through time demands commentary. The past couple of weeks have been one of those times. We are caught in a pandemic that has led to the worst economic downturn […]
My First Post in Gutenberg
For those of you not familiar with WordPress, you probably don’t understand the title of this post. In late 2018, WordPress switched from its traditional (Classic Editor) interface to a new block-based interface that they named “Gutenberg.” But website owners and bloggers who didn’t want to make the switch could opt to retain the Classic […]
Grocery Deliveries Long Before the Pandemic
My parents had a stroller for me when I was an infant. I don’t remember riding in the seat, but there is a picture to prove that I did. Once my brother came along, he got the seat, and I was relegated to standing on the back of the stroller. That I do remember. This […]
The Last Edition of THE OREGON SPECTATOR, March 10, 1855
I’ve written before about the importance of old newspapers in my research for my novels about Oregon pioneers. The Oregon Spectator’s issues from 1948 through 1852 provided a lot of background for Now I’m Found and My Hope Secured. So as I began to research my next Oregon novel (I’m still researching and won’t be […]
A Point of View on Writing With Multiple Points of View
In my critique group, I’m known as the Point-of-View Nazi. I try to catch when other writers stray from the point of view they established in each scene. I sometimes get caught making this mistake myself, though not very often. I wrote so many affidavits for so many witnesses during my days as a lawyer that […]
High School Graduations Through Two Generations
Recently, a relative sent my husband a picture of his high school graduation day. I’d never seen this photo before. My husband is the tall young man in the red robe—the color of the Marshall High School Owls. He graduated in 1967—more than fifty years ago. My husband probably thought of himself as grown and […]
What My Mother Read To Me: THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD
One of the earliest books that I remember my mother reading to me was The Little Engine That Could. I went online to see if I could find the cover of the edition she read to my younger brother and me, but I couldn’t be sure which one it was. It was probably the 1954 […]
I Should Be on a Cruise Right Now
In the pre-pandemic days, I had planned a Viking River Cruise with my siblings and our spouses. The longboat was scheduled to leave Amsterdam yesterday, May 12. That did not happen—the cruise was cancelled, and we are all hunkered down in our respective homes. A long way from Amsterdam. We started planning this cruise about […]