My Smelly Reputation
The janitor, spray can in hand, looked around my fourth grade classroom. “Did a snake escape and die in some corner?” “No, I don’t think so.” I breathed through my mouth to avoid the smell. A girl had recently brought…
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Message Received
Several years ago my daughter Heather and I visited a friend’s lovely flower garden. The friend commented that she hadn’t yet seen a monarch. Minutes later, one appeared. It sipped nectar from an orange and black coreopsis. My daughter and…
The Cast Iron Skillet
In August my sister Rachel and I had the chance to spend several days together. We were bound to talk about childhood memories, our deceased parents, and the difficult task we faced when dealing with their possessions. “I wish we…
The Cast Iron Skillet
In August my sister Rachel and I had the chance to spend several days together. We were bound to talk about childhood memories, our deceased parents, and the difficult task we faced when dealing with their possessions. “I wish we…
My Secret to Weight Loss
Want to increase your exercising and maybe lose a few pounds? Forget joining the gym. I have the solution. Get a puppy! Six week old Josie, a silky black Cockapoo, came to live with me and my husband at the…
A Simpler Time In My Plymouth Valiant
While waiting for the light to change, I pulled up alongside an older woman driving an antique blue Plymouth Valiant. My first car was a turquoise Valiant. I wondered if this one, too, had the cool push buttons for neutral,…
My Purse: Mirror To the Soul Or Where the Heck Are My Car Keys?
If the purse is the mirror to a woman’s soul, I’m afraid mine needs polishing. I dump the contents out on a tray and begin sorting. Ah, here’s my granddaughter’s missing barrette. Hmpphh! So that’s where I put the Map-quest…
Great Things Come in Small Packages
Great Things Come in Small Packages Greetings fellow story lovers! Shortly after my young daughters and I began taking riding lessons, I dreamed of buying a horse of our own. In order to save money, I considered bidding for a…
Colorful, Colloquial Characters (Rated PG for Earthiness)
As a child, and okay, as an adult, too, I happily read Robert Newton Peck’s Soup books. His ability to describe his characters such as Soup’s nemesis, Janice Riker, is peachy. “She was the biggest and strongest and meanest kid…
Living Other Lives
The beauty of the world of literature is that it allows you to live other lives. I’ve been an attractive 17-year-old red-head whose many adventures include solving the mystery of who’s trying to harm Fortune, the racehorse on my aunt’s…