My Mother was a real stickler for manners. As the youngest, I caught the convergence of Mom’s good manners and a passion for all things British which included formal dining. I was about 8, when she called me into the dining room for lessons on how to successfully dine. I enjoyed these sessions with my
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Too Hot Two Bangs, Too Cold One Bang
When the ex and I first moved to the land I live on now, we rented a neighbor’s cottage. It was a rustic, cozy place with an outhouse close by and no running water. There was a cistern at the top of the land where you could fill water jugs plus there was an outside
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Question: what did she mean by saying “that explains a lot about you?”
My Mom was delightfully, wickedly, intelligent but born in the wrong era for the outspoken woman she was. She loved us, but children and family really weren’t her thing. You had to believe she meant well when she said some of the things she did. That wasn’t easy sometimes. Check this out. I was born
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Riding the Updraft
I drive by an active limestone quarry on my way home. It’s common to see 20 plus vultures sailing on the updrafts from the stone pits. I figure it’s the one beauty in a vulture’s life: to be sailing in the sunshine on the updrafts. Ken says we might want to be worried about the
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Have you ever done something really stupid?
When I was in my 20’s I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love Ann Arbor and as time has passed I see my life there as having been a time of excitement, new ideas, new experiences and huge growth. However, for various reasons a lot of it sucked at the time. One winter day
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Thanksgiving chaos ala Mackey
My Mother didn’t want to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. She was more interested in sitting in her favorite chair, reading the convoluted history of the English monarchy while drinking a beer and eating popcorn. Actually, this sounds great to me so I totally get her attitude. I regret to say that we were argumentative
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Look Out: I Am the Alpha Chicken
Here’s another post about a Thanksgiving Day disaster at my Dad’s family farm. I have mixed childhood memories about that farm. And check out the other T-day post called Stinky Dog Thanksgiving. In fact, check out all the other posts you might have missed, I dare you! I grew up in suburbia. My mother loved
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Conflict with the librarian!
I got scolded by the return book librarian. Oh the shame! Ok, my book was 2 days late but a scolding? I wasn’t allowed to renew the book even though there weren’t any holds on it. Reminds me of Mrs. Schumaker from grade school. Mrs. S in nasal voice: “You break the rules my dear,
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Do I have to learn to gobble?
I confess I’m not a runner. I’m a sprinter if something big, mean and ugly is after me but running for fun? No. . So you might wonder why I signed up for a 5k Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving. I blame this on love for my daughter. She’s a great runner, doing half marathons plus she
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Did That Kid Just Call Us…
When she was little, my daughter was obsessed with heavy earth moving equipment. Dump trucks, road graters, concrete mixers and so forth made her yell with delight. We spent time in the car traveling back and forth from preschool and work and she was an alert participant in the world. She would gaze out the
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Fear and Change Walk Into a Bar…
Fear and Change walk into a Bar… I know change is scary. I’m talking real fear and change, the lasting kind, the kind that makes your hair stand on end but you do it anyway. If you’re like me fearing change sometimes brings out the stubborn goat in you so that you do things to
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