The trouble starts as I turn onto I35 in Duluth. “Construction One Mile Ahead,” announces the sign. Inwardly, I groan. Today, I will be forced to deal with something I hate—the dreaded orange cones of construction sites. My orange cone phobia isn’t very serious and many people probably share it—a morbid fear of losing control of the car and hitting... READ MORE >
A special individual occasionally swoops into your life, touches you, however briefly and then moves on, leaving a lasting impression. Such was my experience with Leroy. Our paths crossed quite by chance. One spring morning, while puttering about the deck, I reached down to pull a batch of withered brown parsley stalks from a large planter and noticed the grayish-brown... READ MORE >
If I could pluck up the best parts of my life, wrap them in a package and hand them over to my children and grandchildren, this is what I would give: The taste of fresh peach ice cream on a hot August day; hand churned, made with treeripened peaches and rich thick cream taken from the fresh milk of grass-fed... READ MORE >
When I packed the RV for our vacation, my intentions were good. They really were. I tucked a bag of brown rice in the pantry drawer and filled the vegetable crisper with homegrown alfalfa sprouts. I packed no red meat and the only sweets were two bags of ginger snaps and vanilla wafers. I try to prepare healthy food for... READ MORE >
The messy pile before me is enormous and took all morning to sort. A myriad of summer clothing sprawls across my bed. T-shirts, denim shorts and flip-flops… What to bring on vacation? How many longsleeved T’s? Will I really wear shorts? Within half an hour, I’m exhausted from gnashing my teeth and pulling my hair. After the invention of Space... READ MORE >
I bet television weather people are giving a huge sigh of relief and muttering, “Thank goodness this winter is over.” The mild temps and lack of snow must have driven them crazy. Hardly a blizzard existed, and they had to search high and low to add spice and zip to their weather reports. At one point, a winter weather advisory... READ MORE >
Tossing and turning in my bed, I review my travel “to do” list. It is one o’clock in the morning. Tomorrow my St. Louis visit to my daughter and her family ends, and I am flying home. As always, before traveling, my mind buzzes with thoughts….Where did I put my boarding pass? Did I remember tip money for curbside checkin?... READ MORE >
The winter morning is perfect. Motionless against the sunrise, birds perch in the frosted tree branches, bright eyes watching as I crunch across the icy snow, spilling sunflower seeds. In this strange winter of sparse snowfall and erratic temperatures, a sizeable flock of freeloading birds at my feeding station has burgeoned and most of them now hover above me, waiting... READ MORE >
The gel-like mass bubbles and oozes. I stare in fascinated horror. We all have phobias, things that give us the creeps…spiders… snakes or leeches…ugh, but a whole new phobia has hit the jackpot on my yuk-ometer— Chia seeds. I recently started spouting seeds. These fresh greens taste wonderful and growing them is therapeutic for a summerstarved gardener. Alfalfa seeds grow... READ MORE >
It was long, green and ugly, and I loved it. The bright morning was typical April as I rummaged through the consignment store looking for summer clothes—jeans or T-shirts. The last thing on my mind was a down-filled winter coat. But there it was. Only $15 and perfect for the most frigid January day. This was not a fashion statement,... READ MORE >
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