Month: October 2022

  • to have and to hold a smart phone

    Our children push and prod us into modern technology. Not that we drag our feet. After my first college course in computers, I insisted we buy a home computer. Their college years introduced us all to email. I opened an account and flooded them with emails. Working at the newspaper I had to keep up…

  • Moving dilemma

    It caught me by surprise a couple years ago when my son Nate turned to his 12 year-old daughter and said, “Sophie grab the other end of this chest and help me move it.” Say what?! This kid who still needs daily parental guidance can help her parents move heavy furniture?  The same day whenever…

  • whatever the weather

    “Whether the weather be cold. Or whether the weather be hot. We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.” This old tongue twister recited in the middle of an otherwise unmemorable lecture caught my attention. I sat up and scribbled it down quickly and since then have quoted, especially at…

  • Aunt Erma departs

                A bright spot of joy left our family recently when my Aunt Erma slipped into eternity last week.  She married Bert, my dad’s twin brother, and settled onto his family farm. My mom and aunt often visited. Toward the end one visit, Aunt Erma exclaimed, “Whew! I don’t know when I have talked this much!”…

  • Use it up

    Some days my cooking requires innovation as I apply the adage: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Take the day I grabbed a can with a green label to make green beans for supper. I cranked it around on the can opener, pulled off the lid and saw potatoes.…

  • Nostalgic memories found in Ebay

    As a retirement hobby, my husband and I sell on Ebay. It gives us an excuse to buy and gather items that interest us and then pass them along to someone else. While I enjoy the shopping, my husband enjoys packing. He wakes up many mornings asking, “Did we sell anything?” He really likes to…

  • Just like mom and dad

        The big 4-0 creeps ever closer for my darling daughter. The calendar does not measure the big event so much as the change in her mindset. She called me this morning to say, “I am becoming my parents.” and proceeded to tell me a couple stories.     Yesterday afternoon she was headed to the…

  • Then and now from the checkbook

    Nothing like clearing the clutter to provide a trip down memory lane. During a recent purge of the desk. I filled a bag with carbon copies of used check pads. “Why write checks with carbon copies?” you ask. “Because we often forget to record every check,” we answer.  After trying to recall yet another check,…