Spring Floods and the Oregon Trail
Here in the Midwest, we are experiencing serious flooding this spring. St. Joseph, Missouri, one of the prime “jumping off” points for the Oregon Trail, has had worse flooding this year than in any year in its long history. On March 22, 2019, the Missouri River reached 32.11 feet at St. Joseph, which was higher […]
Not So Random Photos: Spring Break 2003
Most of my photos are now packed away in boxes and would be difficult to rummage through. So I decided not to use a random photo for this post. Instead, I deliberately sought the oldest pictures we had in digital format on our PC—it’s much easier to search a PC than multiple boxes. My husband […]
Treasures That Might Have Been, and Those That Survive
As I’ve delved deeper into closets and drawers and boxes, I’ve found all sorts of things. And on a recent visit, I had my daughter go through her belongings to decide what we should save. She is far less sentimental about “things” than I am, and she kept very little. “There’s a bunch of jewelry […]
No March Madness Anymore
I was perhaps programmed from early childhood to work for Hallmark Cards, which I did for 27 years. When I was growing up, my mother made a big deal of celebrating birthdays. She sent cards on every holiday and on innumerable birthdays of relatives and friends. She mailed several greeting cards a week, and almost […]
Story Arc, as Depicted in George Caleb Bingham’s Election Series
On Saturday, March 2, 2019, other family members and I attended the Friends of Arrow Rock First Saturday Lecture presented by Dr. Joan Stack. Dr. Stack is an art historian who serves as the Curator of Art Collections at the State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Her topic was “United We Stand: Bingham’s […]
Why I Write—It’s Not (Much) About the Money
It’s the middle of tax preparation season, a time of year I hate. I am still amazed that when my father died on January 5, 2015, he already had his 2014 tax information pulled together. Even now that my husband and I use an accountant, it takes me weeks of moaning and groaning to compile […]
On Casings and Crowns: The Minutiae of Building a New House
Building a new house has taught me all sorts of esoteric terms. Our online construction schedule tells me we’ve already been through damproofing and we are headed toward prebatt tubs. Those words mean nothing to me, but I don’t think I’m expected to understand them—I don’t have to sign off on anything having to do […]
My Jewelry: What’s In a Name?
I’ve described before some of the problems I’ve faced because my parents decided to call me by my middle name. My awkward appellation has apparently been too much for certain jewelers tasked with inscribing my name or initials onto pieces I’ve been given. During my current decluttering initiative, I found a bracelet I’d been given […]
The Kansas Museum of History in Topeka
Earlier this month I had a day by myself in Topeka, which is just over an hour’s drive from our home. I’d accompanied my husband when he had an all-day conference there, but I had no obligation until his group dinner that evening. So I designed a day to suit myself. I spent the morning […]
Reflections on My Snow-Shoveling Career
Last week I shoveled our driveway and walks three times in one week. Kansas City’s winter hasn’t been as bad as in some places, but it’s been worse than we’ve had in several years. As my husband said after the third storm in a week, “This is like winter used to be.” Well, it’s not […]