Throughout human history, and even prehistory, people have presented the ones they love with tokens of affection. Cavemen probably presented sparkly rocks to their loved ones, and as soon as someone figured out how to drill holes in teeth and claws, jewelry became a popular gift. Every culture in the world engages in the giving of gifts to win or […]

Most of us live our lives in kind of a comfortable rut. We tend to have favorite foods, favorite clothes, and favorite places, all made customary by long habits. Every now and then, though, something happens to jar us out of our comfy humdrum day. Sometimes you hear something you never expected to hear in all your born days. Darling […]

I would like to take a moment to send a big Thank You out to the residents at the County Lake who decorated their yards this year and let half the county drive around in their backyards, so to speak. The family and I heard about the event and, on a whim, decided to check it out. After equipping ourselves […]

Star Light, Star Bright, First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might…Like many people, I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky. Learning to locate the North Star, naming the constellations and discovering their stories and tracking the Milky Way across the sky were all fun lessons that I’ve been happy to pass along to […]

When you’ve kept chickens for a while, you become fairly familiar with the noises they make. From contented clucking to agitated squawking, inquisitive berking to aggressive growling, Chickenese becomes a second language to the flockmaster. Even if you aren’t the one doing daily chores, you can get used to certain chooks and what they’re saying. That’s why it seemed like […]

As I write this, snow is falling outside my window. It’s not forecasted snow (last I heard, we were outside the “trace to zero” zone) or even particularly welcome snow, but here it is. Even the kids’ initial enthusiasm was dampened when they realized that it won’t even get them a free day from school, since inservice is scheduled tomorrow. […]

I freely admit that I am not a morning person. Over the years, I’ve become better at getting out of bed and making it to the coffee maker without leaving massive destruction in my wake. I can also manage to get the kids up, dressed, and out the door to the bus with no casualties. Heck, some mornings we’re almost […]

Not too long ago, and definitely not too far away, I was peacefully minding my own business, knitting happily away. It had been a thunderstormy kind of evening but had been clearing up so as to not be a dark and stormy night. A rumbling shook the house. Odd, I thought, how it seemed to echo through the floorboards as […]

A stunning revelation occurred to me tonight. For the last coon’s age, or however long I’ve been writing this column, I’ve written almost exclusively about humorous happenings that feature me and/or my children. Every now and then, I mention my ever-so-patient and generous hubby, but not often. You might, therefore, think that he leads an uneventful life, having to put […]

Most young girls go through a horse crazy phase. You know the one, where their every waking thought is about horses: favorite breeds, favorite colors, favorite riding styles. Every book read, poster hung, or knickknack obtained must be horse-related. The second part of the phase is where their thoughts are geared more toward obtaining said favorite breed and color of […]