A Random List of Things That Are Going Well
The world is a crazy place in this era of the pandemic. “Social distancing” remains the phrase of the day, in many places accompanied by “shelter in place” or a variation thereof. Since Saturday, March 14, I have taken a few walks in our neighborhood, but otherwise I have barely left the house. On my […]
COVID-19: What A Difference A Week Makes
Today is Wednesday, March 18. As of last Wednesday, March 11, my children and their cousins were all scheduled to fly to Kansas City this week for a meeting this coming weekend about family farmland. As of Thursday, March 12, we cancelled their trip. Why the change in plans? Coronavirus. COVID-19. Whatever you want to […]
“Where’s That Baby?” and Other Memories
As readers of this blog know, I was very close to my maternal grandmother, my Nannie Winnie. I always believed she thought I was pretty special as well—after all, I was her oldest grandchild. I knew she loved all my siblings, and I didn’t think I was any higher in her estimation than they were, […]
Why I Became an Economics Major in College
I went to Middlebury College expecting to become a Political Science major. I had law school as a possibility in my mind even as I started college. Or maybe I would be a French major and teach French—I had already concluded already that I would never speak French well enough to be a United Nations […]
Selling Cookies and Other Fun Fundraisers
The Kansas City Star has a column called “Snarky in the Suburbs” by Sherry Kuehl, which I enjoy. Last week, her piece was titled “Sure they’re nondescript, but the Thin Mint has a mighty allure”. She described her decades-long addiction to Girl Scout Thin Mints. That reminded me of my own relationship with Thin Mints […]
My Mother’s Hands
I wrote a poem several years back about my mother’s hands. Here it is: Heredity Stubby fingers, Split nails, Swollen knuckles, . . . And now age spots. My mother’s hands At the end of my wrists. How did this happen? At the time, my critique group didn’t get it. How can my mother’s hands […]
Technology Update: On Wi-Fi and Tablets
The time has come again for me to focus on technology. It seems every three years or so I can’t avoid upgrading my devices and/or systems. For the past several weeks, I’ve been deep into wi-fi networks and tablets. Actually, my need to focus on technology began last summer. I am the I/T support in […]
Black History in California
As Black History Month (February) winds to an end, I decided to post a bit of Californian history about African Americans and about my African American characters. I’ve posted before about African American history in the Oregon Territory. California was marginally more receptive to Blacks in that era, but not by much. The Tanner family […]
Cinderella Through the Decades
I follow This Day in History, watching for events that relate to my historical novels. Every once in a while, I learn something that finds its way into my novels. The information also provides fodder for blog posts, such as this one. Most of what I learn has nothing to do with my novels, but […]
What Do I Have After Eight Years of Blogging?
I recently discovered that WordPress could show me how many words total I have written on this blog. From January 2012 when I began blogging through 2019, I posted 502,077 words. That’s five good-sized novels. Before I published my first novel, I was told at writing conferences to build an online platform. That was one […]