Distraction: Magnolia Blossoms in July

For the past week or two, the magnolia tree in our front yard has been blooming again. Not as many blossoms as in the spring, and not as noticeable because the leaves are fully formed. But still a treat. I don’t know what has caused the profusion of blooms. Is […]

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Lost and Found

A few days ago, a friend said to me, “You look thin. Have you lost weight?” “I have no idea,” I responded. “I can’t find my scale.” The bathroom scale is one of the things my husband and I have lost in the move. I remember packing it. I think […]

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Going on Hiatus While I Move

We are in the final days now before my husband and I move to our new home. I’m planning to take a two-week hiatus on this blog while we move. But in this last post from our old house, I wanted to let readers know how it’s going. In two […]

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Remembering the Old House: My Son’s Perspective

While he was visiting recently, my son posted a series of photos on Instagram with his memories of the house he grew up in. I took screenshots of his Instagram posts, asked his permission to put them on this blog, he agreed, so here they are. He had a child’s […]

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Snow Day . . . Not for the Birds

Kansas City got hit with a snowstorm last Friday and Saturday. Friday morning I had a meeting at the far end of the metropolitan area from where I live. I was driving other people, so skipping the meeting was not an option. It rained all morning, though the snow held […]

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A New House To-Be

I mentioned in my last monthly newsletter that my husband and I have decided to build a new house. We built the house we’re in now and moved into it thirty-four years ago this month, in October 1984. Our current home has taken us from being young professionals and parents (I […]

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Spring Has Finally Sprung

March and April this year were dreadful months—cold and dreary. Even if we had an occasional nice day during the week, the weekends were dank and gray. We’d had little snow through the winter, so to make up Mother Nature dumped storms on us, first one on Easter (April Fool’s!), […]

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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 […]

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Spring This Year . . . Maybe Twice

I left Kansas City in mid-March for a two-week trip to Washington State. It was still winter in Kansas City when I left, barely any sign of green in the lawn, and only the beginnings of daffodil shoots. I arrived in Seattle to cherry trees in full bloom. The azaleas […]

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A Fall Family Feud Over Trees

The trees have been gorgeous this autumn in Kansas City. I can’t say it’s been the best year I remember for fall colors, but it must be among the top five. The turning leaves have been so bright that if I were a painter—and I am most decidedly not a […]

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