Today is Poetry Friday. Yesterday, about this time, I glanced out my home office window and saw a flock of very active chickadees in our Norway spruce trees. They were flying from the evergreens to the bare limbed apple trees and back again to the needles for shelter. This flurry of spring activity inspired the…
Comfort
Sometimes, Life Gives You Just What You Need at the Right Time.
For the last few days, I’ve been in a slump. It’s really the first slump I can recall during the pandemic. Mostly, my “slumpiness” revolved around feelings about my own self worth and feeling undervalued. But, today, several things have happened to restore my sense of being valued by others. I realized that I do…
Self Care During this Long Pandemic
This morning I got a hair cut. Luckily, my stylist owns her salon and she only takes one appointment at a time. Aside from a few months at the start of the pandemic, she’s been open for business. I am thankful for both of our sakes. She needs to have income from her business and…
Dutch Licorice
What’s your favorite treat? Without a doubt mine is licorice! Until a few years ago, I only knew licorice from the grocery store. The treat came in the form of Twizzlers and some of the imported Australian brands. But, that is before I went to The Netherlands and had Dutch licorice! Known in Holland as…
Subzero
My one little word for 2021 is grateful. Tonight, I ran to the grocery store for a few items. When I left home it was 4 degrees. When I left the grocery store, the thermometer in my car went from zero to -2 by the time I arrived home, just twenty minutes later, including the…
What do you do During a Snow Storm?
Today, in the upper mid-west, we are having a good, ol’ fashioned snow storm. This is something I don’t mind at all, now that we’re retired. With no place we absolutely have to go to, we can stay safely at home. Gazing out the windows, the gently falling snow makes everything look clean, and unblemished….
Have You Traveled for Pleasure this Year?
Next week marks the one year anniversary of our last vacation. The second week of February 2020, my husband and I went on a trip for pleasure! We went to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a week. It was his choice of venue and the kick off (we thought) to years of travelling as a…
Slice of Life: A Long Day of Travel
Some of my faithful readers are aware that I recently travelled to New York State to see my aging parents. They are 83 and 84. We got home, after a 900 mile car ride, last night at one o’clock in the morning Central Standard Time. I have not seen my parents since November of 2019,…
Some Distraction Helps
Puzzling Today, I got out a 500 piece puzzle for something to do with my parents. Thankfully, I brought it with us on our trip to see them, as I planned our trip. My husband and I ended up starting it. Frankly, I needed a distraction. My focus needed to change from vaccinations, and COVID…
Vaccination Matters
I am with my elderly parents. They are old enough to be next in line to get the COVID vaccine. But, the receipt of important information is not coming easily. The turn to technological dissemination of essential health information has left our seniors behind. Portals, apps, and cell phones have replaced the way many of…










