My granddaughter paid me a visit this past weekend (with her parents), so I haven’t had much chance to write a blog post. And, while I took enough pictures to post a photo blog, her parents have forbidden me to upload any pictures to the internet. So all you get […]
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Random Photo: A Kitten in Corvallis
As I looked through the photographs my father digitized, I came across this picture of my brother and me. I’ve seen it many times before, but this time I noticed my brother is holding a kitten. I’m pretty sure this is the cat we owned in Corvallis, Oregon. We don’t […]
Continue readingEaster 2009—Playing Tourist in New Orleans
Last weekend was Easter, and I reminisced about past Easter vacations. We took many vacations when our children were in school and their spring break coincided with Easter. But as I reminisced, one adult Easter vacation came to mind—in 2009, my husband and I went to New Orleans to visit […]
Continue readingThursday’s Child Has Far to Go
There’s an old nursery rhyme that attributes character traits (or fortunes—the interpretation varies) to children born on each day of the week: Monday’s child is fair of face,Tuesday’s child is full of grace,Wednesday’s child is full of woe,Thursday’s child has far to go,Friday’s child is loving and giving,Saturday’s child works […]
Continue readingThree Generations of Dogs and Babies
When I was born, my parents owned a dog named Punky. I’ve seen pictures of Punky in the past, but I don’t think I have any photos of her at this point. Punky had a short life in their household. My parents got her sometime after their honeymoon, then I […]
Continue readingTime With My Granddaughter
I was able to travel to meet my new granddaughter a couple of weeks ago. During my visit, I think I avoided the “where’s that baby?” syndrome I wrote about recently. I tried to help with household chores as much as with tending the baby. But I did do lots […]
Continue reading“Where’s That Baby?” Redux
Soon I will get to meet my new granddaughter. I have anticipated this moment for months. I can’t wait to get her into my arms. And yet, I also remember how it felt to have my own new baby—it seemed everyone wanted the baby, and no one wanted me anymore. […]
Continue readingI’m a Grandmother!
Over the past many months, one thing I have not written about was my soon-to-be status as a grandmother. My daughter had a baby last week—my first grandchild. I can’t post a picture, nor reveal the child’s name, because I have promised my daughter I would not do so without […]
Continue readingBirthday Celebrations in 19th-Century America
Birthday celebrations figure in several of my novels, including my current work-in-progress. But I’ve never posted about how people actually celebrated birthdays in the 19th century. I decided some research was in order. But most families who had a lot of children could not afford to celebrate everyone’s birthday. So […]
Continue readingWinter Park 2010: A Reflection on Life and Time
As I browsed through my digital photographs looking for something to write about, I came across a folder of pictures I took on a ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado, in 2010. The trip actually took place in late March 2010, during my daughter’s last spring break in law school. […]
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