Most people are familiar with the “buy local” movement. There’s also a trend now toward getting readers to “read local”. Just as buying local” helps consumers find fresh vegetables, unique clothes and jewelry, and original home decor, “reading local” lets readers discover authors with fresh new voices and intriguing tales […]
Continue readingTag Archives: Kansas City
I Almost Lived in San Diego
When my husband and I were in our third year of law school, we had to decide where to settle after we graduated. We’d spent the summer after our second year in Los Angeles, each clerking for a different law firm. Neither of us liked Los Angeles—we’d worked there primarily […]
Continue readingSnow Days: A Recent Phenomenon
Maybe this is one of those “when I was young, we had it tough” stories. But when I was young, we didn’t have snow days. At least, I don’t remember my classes ever being canceled due to snow, nor for any weather-related events. It might have happened, but I don’t […]
Continue readingAshes 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 […]
Continue readingA Tale of Two Kauffmans and Two Spirits
There are two landmarks in Kansas City named after city benefactors Ewing and Muriel Kauffman. Actually, there are more than two, but this post focuses on Kauffman Stadium and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, both of which are on my mind this week. The Kansas City Royals baseball […]
Continue readingThe Summer I Knew Nothing—Studying for the Bar Exam
Thirty-five years ago, in the summer of 1979, my husband and I moved to Kansas City to study for the bar exam. I’ve written before about our trip from California to Missouri, but I’ve tried to block the bar exam and the preparation for taking it from my memory. Still, […]
Continue readingIs Life a Beach or Not?
I’ve written before how much I love the ocean and how I count a year as good if I get to spend time on the beach. By that reckoning, 2014 should be shaping up to be a good one. I spent a day in late February basking in 80 degree […]
Continue readingMemories of Cold
We are ahead of pace on snowfall for the season, and the average low temperature this month has been about 18 degrees below average. It is cold. Monday morning this week, the temperature in Kansas City was -11 degrees. As luck would have it, I was scheduled to be in […]
Continue readingStepping Back To See the Big Picture: Exhibits at the National Archives
When I researched the 1840s for my Oregon Trail novels, I started with the big picture—the general route the emigrants took, their modes of transportation, what was going on in the East at the time, etc. Much of this research never made its way into my early drafts, but I […]
Continue readingCottonwood Trees Are No Picnic
I attended a picnic last week. It was a gorgeous day, spent with good food and company. The only flaw was the cottonwood seeds floating through the park shelter and into our meal. I’d been missing the cottonwoods this year, until the picnic reminded me how messy they are. When […]
Continue reading