I've always been a city gal, but I married a guy raised on a farm. And fifty-some years later, the farm lives on in him. My married life has meant yearly trips back to his hometown of five hundred people, two hours SW of Minneapolis. This years' trip was last week. Imagine riding for hours …
Category: retirement
A Grandma’s Camel Ride
“Do you want to do a camel ride,” my daughter asked on a recent visit to her city’s zoo. “No,” I said. “I have no need to ride a camel.” “Oh, come on, isn’t that on your bucket list?” “Nope. Never has been and never will be,” I said, knowing a safari was never an …
Grab…Sermons, this Time
Grab. Grab. And grab some more. Last time I talked about the “grab” of first sentences in short stories. Today, it’s about the “grab” in first sentences of sermons. I’m saving a collection of both for when I get to “the home” someday. Following my mother’s example, I want a collection of reading material ready. …
Grab. Grab. Grab. How grabby are your first sentences?
“The convent was gone, burned to the ground in a kitchen fire years ago.”1 Would you like to read a short story that begins with this sentence? Writing courses and journals stress the importance of first sentences. They have to have “grab." They have to make the reader want to read on. Every Sunday, I …
Continue reading Grab. Grab. Grab. How grabby are your first sentences?
What will your kids just throw out?
“I’ve put stickers behind everything valuable in my house because I don’t want my kids to throw them out when I die,” a friend said at dinner. Another chimed in, “Mine will too. They’ll get a dumpster and have a party.” A third said, "I've already given my kids everything I want them to keep." …
Gratitude Party Upon Turning Seventy-Two
Six hours ago, I turned seventy-two, so I am planning a long-weekend Gratitude Party.I will start my seventy-third year by hearing Jane Pauley talk about her new book, Your Life Calling: Re-imagining The Rest of Your Life , at a luncheon at the Union League Club. An appropriate title for a birthday celebration, agree?Soon after I …
Pedway Stained Glass – Chicago, 2014
Picture this. One day you're walking Chicago's pedway and the long wall across from Macy's on State is as boring as ever. Bland. No color. And a bit dirty.Then magic happens.Last week, I joined commuters racing on the pedway from trains to jobs and reveled in that long wall now bursting with color, excitement, and …
Why Don’t You Just Run Away?
That line was the funniest one I heard last week. The context? Imagine retirees, and the gal saying this to her husband. I’m sure you can conjure up many scenes that you want to say, perhaps yell, that line. Before I retired in 2000 I was aware of potential problems with Marv and me being …
Hazards of Marrying a Preacher’s Kid
Ask my husband about the hazards of marrying a PK, and he’s likely to tell you, “Be ready to drive off the highway at any inopportune moment.” You see, growing up as a preacher’s kid, I lived in five states. Marv was born and raised on the same farm. So by the time we met …
Chronic Itch Sufferers: Advice Welcome!
“Don’t tell me you are still itching,” a friend said yesterday. “That is just terrible! What’s been happening?” I’d not seen her in a month, and while she was off gallivanting across the world, I was continuing my journey from one doctor to another. As a retired nurse, I ask myself, every minute, What if …
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