The Evil Blue Pyrex Dish
I discovered as I cleaned out my parents’ house that there was a memory in every drawer and cupboard. The memories would surprise me—I had no warning of when one would strike. One afternoon when I was alone in the house I looked through kitchen cabinets, trying to decide if there was anything I wanted […]
Roles of Women During the California Gold Rush
The vast majority of miners during the California Gold Rush were men. The census of 1850 showed that only 8 percent of the population in California was female. In fact, women were so scarce in the mining regions that a young man in Nevada City wrote, Got nearer to a woman this evening than I […]
Storytelling Is Important in Many Professions, Whether Reciting the Facts or Making It Up
Lawyers are supposed to tell a story when they are trying a case. Professors taught me that in law school classes, I read countless columns by James McElhaney in the American Bar Association Journal over the years giving the same advice, and I went to a National Institute of Trial Advocacy training program where we […]
The Tax Man Cometh Thrice This Year
I hate the weeks leading up to April 15 when I have to prepare and file my tax returns. I start worrying about taxes in January, but don’t start doing anything until February. Or maybe March. Then the days between the Ides of March and Tax Day turn frenetic. In prior years I have always […]
You Know Your Children Are Grown When . . . [Part IV]
Here’s another list of instances when I have been struck by how independent and mature (well, most of the time) my children are. You know your children are grown when . . . 1. You see them for the first time after your parent dies and you burst into tears and they comfort you like you […]
Snowed Out On My Birthday
Forgive me one more birthday story. After this post, I’ll move on with my year. Forty years ago, on my 19th birthday, I was in my second year at Middlebury College. It was spring break, but I stayed on campus that week. I didn’t mind remaining on the almost empty campus. I had lots of […]
Happy Birthday (and Easter) to me!
April 5 is my birthday. This year, for the first time in my life, my birthday was on Easter. The date for Easter, as most people know, floats around during the spring. In theory, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. But the vernal equinox was set as […]
Two Poets in the Family: Happy Easter . . . and an early Happy Mother’s Day
In going through the mementos my parents kept, I’ve discovered another way in which my mother and I were alike. We both wrote poetry to our families as children. Here’s a poem I wrote for Easter as a child. I can’t date it exactly, but because I referred to “grandmother” and not “grandparents”, I think […]
What Is Cottolene?
After helping me clean out my parents’ house after my father died, my husband got the bug to clean out our house. He has never liked clutter. Although most of the clutter in our home is hidden in cupboards and drawers, it is there, and he hates it. He started with the kitchen. I came […]
Sluicing and Beyond: The Gold Rush Develops from Entrepreneurial to Capitalist
I’ve written about panning for gold and rockers and Long Toms. Inevitably, as the search for gold during the California Gold Rush, the miners developed more sophisticated methods of extracting gold. Sluicing was the next development after Long Toms. While some consider Long Toms to be primitive sluices, the difference is one of scale. Sluicing […]