As I mentioned in my August 15 post last year, by mid-August the wagon trains to Oregon were following the Snake River. At the time, the Snake was called the “Lewis Fork” of the Columbia River (named after Meriwether Lewis). The Oregon Trail followed this river for 300 miles from […]
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Summer Rains and Memories
The past two days we have had rain in Kansas City. Monday felt almost autumn-like – cool, with a steady rain that lasted all day. Tuesday was warmer, steamier, but still grey and dreary. I sat writing in my journal on Tuesday, the room dark, no sunshine streaming in my […]
Continue readingHiking in Switzerland and Family Diversity
Fifteen years ago, in July 1998, our family took a hiking vacation in Switzerland. We arranged the trip through Distant Journeys, which sets up self-guided trips for adventuresome souls. My husband and two children qualify as adventuresome, if I do not. We flew to Geneva and took the train to […]
Continue readingReverse Gold Rush Journey: My Trek to Kansas City
It was 34 years ago this week that my husband and I arrived in Kansas City to live. Early June, 1979. We had just finished our last law school exams, and didn’t even stay in California for our graduation ceremony, because the preparation course for the Missouri bar exam had […]
Continue readingSpring Has Sprung. Maybe. Finally. Again.
Forsythia have always signaled spring to me. Yellow is not my favorite color, but the appearance of these cheery flowers on the dead branches of winter brightens my mood. Every year, whenever they choose to appear. This year, the forsythia did not appear until April. Some years I see them […]
Continue readingThe Donner Party: Don’t Take Shortcuts and Hurry Along
One of the more sensational stories of the Oregon Trail is that of the Donner party, the group of emigrants to California in 1846 who were lost in snows in the Sierra Nevada mountains from November 1846 until March 1847, and allegedly resorted to cannibalism. As soon as their story […]
Continue readingUrban Rain, Suburban Snow, Waiting for Spring
I just spent nearly three weeks caring for my daughter who broke her leg skiing. She lives in an urban neighborhood in Seattle. I’ve never lived in a truly urban environment, one with stores and restaurants within easy walking distance, so this was a new experience for me. While I was […]
Continue readingConfessions of a Non-Skier
After I whined in a recent post about skiing, I now must report that I did not ski on our recent family vacation. I had good intentions, but discretion dictated that I abstain this year. In mid-December, we drove to Whistler, British Columbia, in a snowstorm in the dark. (It’s […]
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 […]
Continue readingJumping Off to the Unknown
Part of my horoscope on my birthday this year read “Develop a way of handling the unexpected, as it will become a regular occurrence for you.” But isn’t this true for everyone? The unexpected becomes expected, because change comes to all of us. Sometimes we seek the change, other times […]
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