Happy Earth Day
Please take care of it.
22 Apr 2024 08:53
Please take care of it.
19 Apr 2024 12:06
Today's blog is a guest post from my friend, Pam Bergstrom, National Technical Assistance Agroforester who works for the Nebraska Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lincoln, Nebraska. She shared these thoughts in one of her newsletters, and granted me permission to share it.
16 Apr 2024 10:36
Lucky me! Two of my three entries in the Cherokee/Clay Senior Games Literary Arts competition medaled. Mad Max won gold in the short story category, and Honoring and Honored at the Rosebud Wacipi took silver. My third entry, Alone, Invisible, and Forgotten, didn’t medal, but placed fourth in the essay category. Thanks to my fellow Ridgeline Writers members for your constructive critiques!
14 Apr 2024 16:34
Today would have been my dad's one-hundredth birthday. In his honor, later this month I will launch his book: Dear Folks—Letters Home 1943-1946, World War II.
8 Apr 2024 16:33
Clouds rolled in just as the partial eclipse began in North Carolina. But they held a silver lining. I sat in the yard, felt the temperature drop, and listened to the birds (and a few crickets) as they reacted to the diminished daylight. The cloud cover waxed and waned, obscuring the sun to varying degrees. At a certain point between blinding and invisible, I stole a few quick glances and observed the phenomenon without safety glasses. Foolish, I know, but at my age I take a few risks. It was amazing. Still, I’m glad I witnessed totality during the 2017 eclipse, shown here in my picture as it passed over Nebraska.
5 Apr 2024 14:46
I’ve been trying to round out my reading list with several of the “classics” that I somehow passed over during my school years. Most of the books have been wonderful reads, but this one was tough. I checked out Homer’s Iliad from the library, and it took me two full weeks to wade through it.
22 Apr 2024
Please take care of it.
19 Apr 2024
Today's blog is a guest post from my friend, Pam Bergstrom, National Technical Assistance Agroforester who works for the Nebraska Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lincoln, Nebraska. She shared these thoughts in one of her newsletters, and granted me permission to share it.
16 Apr 2024
Lucky me! Two of my three entries in the Cherokee/Clay Senior Games Literary Arts competition medaled. Mad Max won gold in the short story category, and Honoring and Honored at the Rosebud Wacipi took silver. My third entry, Alone, Invisible, and Forgotten, didn’t medal, but placed fourth in the essay category. Thanks to my fellow Ridgeline Writers members for your constructive critiques!
14 Apr 2024
Today would have been my dad's one-hundredth birthday. In his honor, later this month I will launch his book: Dear Folks—Letters Home 1943-1946, World War II.
8 Apr 2024
Clouds rolled in just as the partial eclipse began in North Carolina. But they held a silver lining. I sat in the yard, felt the temperature drop, and listened to the birds (and a few crickets) as they reacted to the diminished daylight. The cloud cover waxed and waned, obscuring the sun to varying degrees. At a certain point between blinding and invisible, I stole a few quick glances and observed the phenomenon without safety glasses. Foolish, I know, but at my age I take a few risks. It was amazing. Still, I’m glad I witnessed totality during the 2017 eclipse, shown here in my picture as it passed over Nebraska.
5 Apr 2024
I’ve been trying to round out my reading list with several of the “classics” that I somehow passed over during my school years. Most of the books have been wonderful reads, but this one was tough. I checked out Homer’s Iliad from the library, and it took me two full weeks to wade through it.
29 Mar 2024
One of my stories about my adventures as a newspaper correspondent appears in Now or Never, Randell Jones’ latest Personal Story Publishing Project anthology. Fit To Be Tied chronicles a reporter’s escapade involving frigid temperatures, ice climbers on a sheer cliff high above wickedly sharp rocks, and a patient park ranger.
18 Mar 2024
Over the past couple of decades, I’ve noticed that citizen participation in everyday local government affairs appears to have declined. This seems to have intensified in recent years as partisanship and political posturing have increased. I find this both sad and alarming because I think now, more than ever, it is important for regular citizens to keep abreast of current events in our communities. “Knowledge is power” may be a cliché, but I believe it is true.
7 Mar 2024
The strawberries arrived this week, yum! Every year the local elementary school sells them as a fundraiser. It’s my unofficial start of spring. They bring me cheer—and endless possibilities. Those red jewels liven up the dreariest of breakfasts, add sweetness and color to salads and desserts, and generally just make me a happy camper. I even sliced some and flash-froze them for out-of-season enjoyment.
29 Feb 2024
We get an extra day on the calendar once every four years, and it’s happening again today.
14 Feb 2024
Teachers, both traditional and non-traditional, rank just after family and elders on my list of people who have most influenced me. These folks opened up new horizons and introduced me to the wider world beyond my home.
6 Feb 2024
If you're anywhere near, join our evening of reader’s theater with local actors and playwrights, young and old, delivering entertainment at every turn! Yours Truly even has a bit part!
31 Jan 2024
Some family members aren’t related by blood, but they’ve had a tremendous influence on my life. These elders were mentors who lifted me, steadied me, pointed me in the right direction, and stuck with me for the long haul.
24 Jan 2024
I just finished watching a great documentary about the amazing survival of ancient letterpress printing into the 21st century. Pressing On (Bayonet Media 2017) blends the incredible history of the technological revolution that in the mid-1400s catapulted printing from laborious hand transcriptions to the first mass production of the printed word.
20 Jan 2024
The other night I finished reading Neil Howe’s book, The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us About How and When This Crisis Will End (Simon & Schuster 2023). What an “aha!” moment!
9 Jan 2024
Recently, I read an article about social media influencers, as if that’s new. The social media part may be new, but influencers have always been with us. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what (and who) has contributed to my becoming the person I am today. Every place I’ve lived is part of me, and everyone with whom I’ve developed any kind of relationship has affected me. Just for fun, I made a list of my most powerful interactions: the people and places that have shaped me.
31 Dec 2023
This year I finished a record (for me) of forty-three books. The list includes nonfiction (always my favorite), fiction, poetry, memoir, and—for the first time—a sampling of banned books (eight of them). I wanted to see what all of the fuss is about. After reading them, I didn’t understand why most of them had been banned. Only one truly shocked me, and it was one that received a Nobel Prize. Although I did not like that particular tome, I’ll vigorously defend our right to read it. Wishing each and every one of you a new year full of good reading.
25 Dec 2023
The wind blew hard here in the southern Appalachian Mountains today. It rained off and on. We needed the moisture, but maybe not the downed trees and branches. It’s like so many contradictions in our world: “Yes, but . . .”
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