writing
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The Era of Words: Starting Over at 70
The Weight of a Quiet Christmas I’m not going to lie. Christmas was difficult. It’s a simple thing to write about faith, hope, and trust. Some days, it’s not so easy to maintain a happy face. The past six months have been extremely stressful, culminating in a two-week period of feeling a sense of holiday… Continue reading
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The Power of the Pencil: Embracing Your Inner Writer at Christmas
This is the first year I can remember not sending Christmas cards to everyone by the day after Thanksgiving. In past years, I designed many Christmas cards and had them ready to mail by the time the Advent season began. Not this year. This has become my year of wandering in the desert, waiting for… Continue reading
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Aging Gracefully: Lessons from a Weekend Full of Scams
A most embarrassing post. I repeat, “a most embarrassing post.” Act your age. Has anyone ever said that to you? Maybe your mother would tell you that you couldn’t sit still in church. It’s been a long time since I have given much thought to acting my age, since I probably never have. I agree… Continue reading
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Two months to get rid of Wilbur T. Fred
INDY Children began as a way for me to play Jeopardy with my children. I would supply the answers via blog posts, recipes, old photos and stories. You know, categories. When I am gone and they can’t call their mom and ask, “How do you do that?” The answers would be available digitally. Or at… Continue reading
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From Tornadoes to Life Spirals: A Journey of Memories
On Sunday, I had the privilege of attending the Simile Middle School production of The Wizard of Oz. And, what does one think when they think of the Wizard of Oz? Tornados. Our area has had its share of tornadoes this year. Tornados are like spirals, or are spirals more like tornados? It is a… Continue reading
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Cherishing Small Town Memories: A Grandmother’s Reflection
APOLOGY: I am so sorry this is late. This is a busy time of year, and I am preparing to do one more market before the freeze, when my attention will turn to cleaning out the gardens. And, I’m so disappointed I cannot find that photo of me as a cheerleader.) Maybe not all of… Continue reading
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The Joy of Fall: Homecoming Memories with Cheerleaders
PS: Next week I will post a photo of me as a cheerleader. I don’t have access to it at the moment. I hope I can find it. What wonderful weather comes with the autumnal equinox. Warm sunny afternoons and chill evenings, just right for bonfires. With the changing season comes school. With school, there… Continue reading
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Harvesting Memories: A Journey of Resilience
It has been quite a year. Here we are approaching fall, speculating on whether winter will be mild or cold and snowy. The gardens are nearly done producing, and the root cellar has been restocked as the pile of empty jars goes down to nearly nothing. An awesome trade-off. Speaking of trade-offs, I have accomplished… Continue reading
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Embracing Creativity: My Journey to Fargo
It’s already Thursday, and I am still struggling to complete a blog post. Well, this is my week of storytelling in person, rather than virtually. On Tuesday, I presented on my mission trip to Estonia. Today, I am in Fargo at the Sanford Survivorship Retreat. I took this opportunity to leave on Wednesday and spend… Continue reading
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The Joy of Watching Grandchildren Grow
The very first personal column I penned for the Mandan News so many years ago was titled “Cleaning up the Little Girl.” My daughter was in middle school. One day, after work, I went to her bedroom and caught her furiously cleaning. She earned some extra cash cleaning houses and seemed to enjoy cleaning our… Continue reading
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Lessons from ‘Warning’ by Jenny Joseph
Remember the poem everyone called “When I Am an Old Woman?” It was written in 1961 by a 29-year-old woman named Jenny Joseph. The poem’s real title is “Warning.” If you are not familiar with this poem, here ya go. When I am an old woman I shall wear purpleWith a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.And I shall spend my pension on brandy… Continue reading
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Celebrating Small Victories
Again, with Tom Petty (he’s a heartbreaker) and the lyrics to another song he produced —Sure as night will follow dayMost things I worry ‘boutNever happen anyway The song “Crawling Back To You,” was probably not written about crawling back to Jesus, but somehow the lyrics could easily mean whomever you trust to be there… Continue reading
About Me
I love to write. My background is graphic arts and journalism. My roots are German-Russian from McIntosh County, North Dakota.
My time is spent reading, writing, gardening, cooking, blogging, fiber arts – you name it, we try it.
INDYchildrendotme 