The Orange Juice Incident
I know it is un-American, but I do not like orange juice. The pulp in it clings to my tongue and doesn’t go down easily. The acid churns my stomach. And it’s just so orangey. I also don’t like to travel during the holidays. I started being responsible for my Thanksgiving and Christmas travels when […]
Christmas Cards Through the Years
Smithsonian.com published an article on December 9, 2015, entitled “The History of the Christmas Card,” by John Hanc. According to the Smithsonian.com article, Christmas cards began in 1843 in London, when the very busy Henry Cole decided to send post cards instead of handwritten notes to his friends at the holidays. Thus, it is likely […]
Ashes to Ashes: Requiem for a Tree
We moved into our brand new house on a block of other brand new houses in October 1984. Within a few weeks after we moved in, the city of Kansas City, Missouri, planted trees in the parkway up and down our street. My husband and I were both at work the day that the trees […]
Langley on the Loose
My mother and her mother both became grandmothers at age forty-eight. My father’s mother was even younger when her first grandchild was born. Here I am, closing in on sixty, and I don’t see any prospects for grandchildren any time soon. But I do have a granddog. A year ago, my daughter adopted Langley, a […]
Google Alert on the Oregon Trail: The Small Pleasures of Being a Writer
I have set up a Google Alert for references to “Oregon Trail.” Every week in my email inbox, I get a list of internet articles referencing the Oregon Trail. My purpose in setting up the alert was to keep up on what is happening along the trail. Most of what shows up in the Google […]
Lloyd Center, Mickey Mouse, and Santa
I’ve written before about the time that Santa came to visit my brother and me at our house. That’s the only time I remember Santa coming to visit me as a child before he dropped off our presents. But I remember one time when we went to visit Santa at the mall. I was four […]
The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t
Last Wednesday morning, I made pumpkin and pecan pies. Wednesday night, my husband made apple pie, and he cooked green beans Thursday morning. We were ready with our contributions to Thanksgiving dinner. Our two adult children had flown to Kansas City to be with us—our son on Monday and our daughter late Wednesday evening. They […]
Weddings in the 1840s
My wedding anniversary is tomorrow, November 26, so for this month’s post on life during the 1840s, my topic is weddings of the times. In the early years of our nation, weddings were low-key affairs, typically held in the bride’s home and attended only by family and close friends. Weddings were typically on a week-day […]
Thank you to readers!
Today’s post is a simple thank you to readers and followers of this blog and of my novel, Lead Me Home. For an update on Lead Me Home, please click here.
Stories I Couldn’t Tell Before: Driving Dad’s Oldsmobile
When I was in high school, my father had this huge Oldsmobile 98. It was a big four-door sedan, the biggest car Oldsmobile made. The V8 engine could tow a boat crammed full of boxes for a summer on the lake. The passenger compartment could transport our family of six, plus our large dog, comfortably. […]