Though where you live will determine how spring arrives on Sunday, the day represents a benchmark for the change of season. Some of you are still ankle deep in snow while others are donning t-shirts and flip-flops. All sorts of astronomical explanations abound for the phenomenon, but it’s safe to say spring is here. The […]
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Leave My Sleep Alone
Insomnia is a recurring problem for many. The older I get the more I am bothered by the condition. I have friends who report successive nights of being awake at 3 a.m., the elusive sleep genie nowhere to be found. One acquaintance turned the wide awake hours into a productive endeavor. She thought of all […]
When Waging War, Study Squirrels
When my husband retired, it took him a while to adjust to his new life. Finding things to do wasn’t a problem, prioritizing them was. One thing he especially enjoyed was spending more time feeding the birds in our backyard. We gave him a sophisticated new bird feeder to encourage his hobby and he went […]
Choosing a Clean Sweep for 2022
When 2022 rolled around I wanted change in my life. The years 2020 and 2021 had taken their toll. I felt burned out, my muse struggled, and my words wouldn’t come. My blog suffered for lack of content, but my mind had literally come to a standstill. Nothing found inspiration, my writing dead in the […]
Critter Corner Cards 2022 Calendar
The Critter Corner Cards calendar for 2022 is now available. This year’s offering from Artist Rachel Lee is a series of pooches in various habitats waiting to steal your heart. Even a neighborhood mutt! Cost is still $13.95. Shipping $3.00. Order blank at www.crittercornercards.com OR mail check to Critter Corner Cards, PO Box 1426, Springfield, […]
Debut Author Emily Sara Smucker
This past week I had the privilege of reading a non-fiction book by debut author Emily Sara Smucker. The book, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea, is an account of Emily’s year traveling across the country visiting a different Mennonite community each month. At every stop she experienced something unique, seeking what […]
When in Babylon
I’ve always held a quiet reverence for Daniel of the Bible, who, along with his friends, was taken captive and transported to Babylon under the rule of king Nebuchadnezzar—young Hebrews suddenly thrust into a culture quite different from their own. The foods, the rules, the dress were all strange to them. Yet they refused to […]
An Autumn Hello
This week we bid goodbye to summer. I confess I’m not sorry to see it go. This series of days between June and September has been unusually hot, long, and dry. Oregon summers typically aren’t like that, so enduring this non-ending chain of boiling afternoons and humid evenings has taxed all of us. I’m hoping […]
When Life Ends Too Soon
This week our family lost a gentle giant. Our nephew succumbed to pneumonia after surviving a bout of Covid. He will be missed. A big man with a bigger heart, he stood every inch of six feet four. He owned his own business and was well respected in his community. He and his wife had […]
Life After Trouble
When my daughter first graduated high school, she continued her art studies with a private tutor who was a student at the University of Oregon. Instead of going home to New Hampshire at the end of each spring term, the tutor opted to stay because she said Oregon summers were delightful. I wonder what she’d […]