Recipes

You know how certain words appear to be so strange and meaningless the longer you look at them? ‘Recipe’ is one such word. How are we supposed to figure it out phonetically? What inkling can we glean that it’s a three-syllable word, for cryin’ out loud? And is the ‘re-‘ a prefix? Can you cipe … Continue reading →

Something about ‘Tidying up’

“Tidying up” gets a good deal of airplay in this new age of minimalism, from down-sizing into tiny houses to a mere decluttering, examining each item in the closet to assess its ‘joy’ quotient. My square footage and penchant for hanging on to stuff squared off against a felt need to join the masses and … Continue reading →

“There are so many things you would never think to tell anyone.”

Late last week I looked at the calendar and recognized the soon arrival of March 19. The day was coming, and coming without any fanfare. It would be the eighth time the day would come as a marker, urging me to remember my mother and her passing. Eight years. In all earnestness I ask: where … Continue reading →

Those Were the Days

Do you ever find yourself wondering if your grandparents sat about, lamenting the days gone by? Like Fred, Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew, who waxed poetic about the Christmas-time assuring his miserly uncle that it was a “good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time” (Dickens A Christmas Carol Stave 1), did they long for the seasons that they … Continue reading →

September 11 — What Should We Remember?

Growing up in the ’60s & ’70s as a North Dakota farm girl, I had no experience with any sort of urban culture. In 1970 the state’s capital, Bismarck, was home to under 35,000 people, and while it’s nearly doubled its population today, I don’t think anyone would mistake the small city for a truly … Continue reading →