Yesterday, I heard a radio announcer tell about some famous person who left a 1,000 tip for a waitress at a restaurant where he had just eaten a meal. Wow! Great, right?! Yes and no. While it’s great that he completed this generous and seemingly random act, it should have stopped there. Instead, he took…
family
Slice of Life Tuesday: Skating Christmas
The Tuesday before Christmas. We’ve noticed the ice has frozen smoothly this year, with a very cold but dry November. Cross country skiing will most likely not happen soon, unless the storm brewing in the West dumps some snow on us later in the week, as the meteorologists tell us might happen. This leaves ice…
Throwback Thursday: Snowstorms
The Davis Memorial Carillon at Alfred University stands tall in the snowy darkness on campus in November of 2018. We drove in for a visit in a ranging snowstorm! No boots, no mittens, not hats….we were not prepared! It was early for such a significant snowfall, even in the southern tier of NYS. We heard…
Slice of Life Tuesday: Chasing Packages
With only ten days left until Christmas, we are down to the wire. I finished nearly all of my shopping yesterday by picking up just a few last minute gifts for our boys. The stockings now need filling. I’m pretty much on schedule, or so I thought until things started missing their delivery dates by…
Pandemic Projects & Delayed Trip Gratification: Part Deux
It’s now mid-December, approaching early winter 2020. Who would have thought in March of this year that it would turn out as it has? Certainly, not me! By now, my husband and I planned to have had a week in Italy this summer, and more visits to National Parks this fall. However, by choice, and…
O’ that Tannenbaum Decorating
Today, I’m finishing the decorations on our third Christmas tree. I got out the decorations early last week, and early is the key word here. I usually do not decorate until the second week in December. In truth, some years were later than that. But, whether we were here or vacationing for the holiday, as…
A Little Niceness Goes a Long Way Right Now
My husband makes a daily stop at one of our convenience stores. He’s gotten to know the staff – not really by stopping but because he was the company physician for a while. And, one of our sons worked at this older branch of the store for slightly over a year. One of the store…
Woke: Resistance is not Futile
If you are reading this post, it is not what you think it’s about if you just read the title. I woke up this morning feeling that I was being dragged down….down into a black hole. Although I’ve spun around the edge of this hole before, very often around holiday time, I don’t think I’ve…
What is Normal, Anyway?
Yesterday, I wrote twice. I started a blog because I was angry. Angry at what specifically, I cannot really say because I don’t really know. However, by the time I was finishing the blog, my anger had waned and I did not know exactly how to end the piece. I was also ashamed for feeling…
Grandma’s Whispers
I keep hearing a voice saying, “Carol, make sure you press your seams open.” “Carol, don’t forget to trim your threads.” “Carol, take time measuring. Measure twice, cut once.” The voice is my grandmother’s. She’s been long gone, dying at age 92 almost twenty years ago. Born in 1910, she lived through some interesting times….










