I like to collect authors. These are people who write books with characters who stay with me, a storyline that engrosses me or offers such insight into history that I learn from the facts woven into the story. For me, these authors are people like E.B.White, Madeline d”Engle, Roald Dahl, and Mary Doria Russell, as…
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The Smell of Death
Have you ever seen the infamous Corpse Plant? Or, perhaps, the better question is: have you ever smelled the odor emanating from a Corpse Flower in bloom? It is said to emulate the smell of death, of rotting meat! The botanical name for this huge smelly plant is Amorphophallus titanium. Knowing I was a plant…
What’s Up with that? A Half Bottle of Ketchup?
When you move it’s important to be organized and efficient. We were. My husband managed his shop and major indoor projects like fixing the tiny holes left in walls by hanging artwork. He also made sure the yard was in good shape. We had 3.25 acres and lots of gardens, so that was a major…
Poetry Friday: The First Caterpillar of the Year!
Late yesterday afternoon, I saw my first monarch caterpillar of the year. Really?! Wow, it is late. Five years ago, I saw my first larva on June 19th. We did move three hours north, but we moved to a cabin that we built in 2005 and have visited multiple times a year since. So, I…
Ditch the Old Routines for New Ones
“When in Rome do as the Romans do.” Isn’t that the saying? The Northwoods of Wisconsin is probably as far from Rome as you can get, but as we find ourselves in a new place, I think it also calls for a resetting of routines. My husband thought that I could kayak with him as…
Managing Health Care Today
My blog was posted to Medium.com today. You can view the piece here. I am co-posting most days from WordPress to Medium. Today, I wrote on Medium and am posting the link here. I am looking for more followers on my medium.com page. Please consider following my writing there. Thanks.
Slice of Life: Native American Influence
Ever since an early age, I knew what the word Manitou meant. Manitou is generally understood to be Algonquin for Great Spirit. My mom, a teacher and a lover of vocabulary, was able to satisfy my curiosity when I asked, “what does manitou mean” when I was younger than ten. We lived by Manitou Road…
Connection in a rural place
Connectivity, or lack thereof, is preventing me from posting a blog I wrote today. Suffice it to say, I am not rewriting it. I wrote it and something is preventing my publish button from being active. We are in a rural area. WiFi is available but at a cost. Right now we are using our…
Poetry Friday: Inspiration and Opportunity
Today is Poetry Friday! Our host is Janice Scully at Salt City Verse! Thanks for hosting, Janice! Our move is complete and I’m finding new sources of inspiration for writing. I also want to take my writing in some new directions this year. I have ideas for some things other than poetry. And since my…
Slice of Life: Living in the Rural but Beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin
We’ve only been here since Friday. ‘Here’ is at our cabin in north-central Wisconsin. We built the cabin in 2005 after purchasing the land in 2001. We own 2 acres of lakefront property on which we built a timber frame cabin. My husband designed the cabin by researching timber-frame homes, building a scale model of…