Signs of Adulthood: Toaster Ovens and Door Knockers
For my husband, the mark of adulthood was ownership of a toaster oven. He’d spent five years as a Navy officer, and presumably had some responsibility in that capacity. (I didn’t know him then.) But he was itinerant through his Navy days, and hadn’t owned a home or had a family. In fact, he hadn’t […]
Smallpox Epidemic in Oregon: A Scene from NOW I’M FOUND
Here is a scene from Chapter 44 of my novel Now I’m Found, describing a smallpox epidemic that hit the Oregon City area in October 1849. The following Sunday morning William complained, “Mama, I’m hot.”Jenny felt his forehead—burning. O’Neil brought her a bucket of water, and she removed William’s shirt and wiped his chest and […]
My Strength is “Input,” But Enough Already
Many years ago, my work group and I took the Gallup StrengthFinders survey. The theory behind this survey was that employees who get to do what they do best at work every day are more engaged and more productive in their jobs. The survey’s purpose was to identify what people do best. My top strength […]
Pandemic Reflection: It’s the Little Things That Bring Comfort
One blessing from the current coronavirus stay-at-home order is that I have realized how little I need. My purchases plummeted once I was confined to my house. No spur-of-the-moment stops at a coffee shop for chai. No shopping sprees for a new spring wardrobe. Not even a trip to the drugstore for new shampoo—there’s a […]
You Know Your Kids Are Grown, Part VII (Pandemic Edition)
It’s been over a year since I posted on this topic. In this time of the pandemic, I can’t visit my two adult children who live on opposite coasts, nor can they come visit me. In fact, they canceled a trip they had scheduled to Kansas City when the stay at home orders went into […]
Another Update on My Work-in-Progress
The silver lining in the pandemic crisis is that I have been writing diligently on my work-in-progress, a contemporary novel I intend to publish under a pseudonym. In Kansas City, the shut-down began in earnest about the weekend of March 14-15. At that point, I had around 70,000 words written on my first draft. As […]
Home-Schooling with Historical Fiction
I’ve learned most of my history through historical fiction. Not all, but most of it. Even back in grade-school days, I read a lot of historical fiction—the Little House series, Caddie Woodlawn, What Katy Did, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables. All evoked by-gone times […]
A Childhood Epizootic
In these days of the coronavirus, every cough and every ache or pain makes us fearful. At least, that’s how I’m feeling these days. Spring is coming regardless of the pandemic, and I try to take solace in the warmer days, the brilliant sunshine, the greening of trees and lawns. But sometimes my thoughts take darker […]
Recipe: Rice with Raisins and Cinnamon
In our house, we use EVERYTHING. Including chicken and turkey carcasses. When we get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, we save the carcass, and my husband makes chicken stock from it. But he doesn’t make the stock as often as we buy rotisserie chickens. So when the pandemic hit, we had four carcasses […]
How Long Did the California Gold Rush Last?
Much like the current pandemic, the California Gold Rush started at a specific epicenter and spread across the world. We’re all familiar with the term “Forty-Niners” which originated with the hordes of people flocking to California in 1849 to seek their fortunes in the gold fields. I’ve described in previous posts that the Gold Rush […]