There was a story on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition show on July 16, 2013, about “summer melt.” These are the students who say in spring when they graduate from high school that they are going to college in the fall, but they do not actually enroll when autumn comes. […]
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A Picture Is Only Worth a Thousand Words If It Tells a Story
Sometimes I wish I could remember the story behind a picture. As I was searching for a photograph of my toddler daughter and her grandfather for my July 1 post, I came across this picture of my children from about that same year. The photo made me laugh, and I […]
Continue readingConquering Fear Through Grandpa’s Glasses
When my daughter was in preschool, she was afraid of many things. Santa Claus, Disney movies, and fireworks were just a few of the things she dreaded. She ran screaming down the hall when Santa Claus showed up one Christmas Eve. She would not take his candy cane, nor pull […]
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 readingWater Sports, Card Games & Airplane Letters
As Memorial Day approaches, I remember long summer days of swimming and waterskiing until we were exhausted, followed by cutthroat card games in the afternoons and evenings. My family rented a cabin on Coeur d’Alene Lake in northern Idaho, beginning when I was thirteen or fourteen, until my parents bought […]
Continue readingMemories of Desert and Lakes . . . and Our Rainy Respite
As a desert-born girl, I hate the rain. I don’t like it dripping on me. And I hate the Midwestern humidity – I’ve never adapted to it in 33 years of living in Missouri. This hot, dry summer of Midwestern drought has brought back many memories of the hot, dry […]
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