Category: Uncategorized

Well, another Dirty Kanza is over and everything is slowly getting back to normal around our house. This year, as usual, we hosted several riders and, as usual they were a delight to be around. I admit that I find the DK riders easier to host than those who come to town for the Glass Blown Open. A lot of that may have to do with the age of the participants and the difference in the physical stamina necessary for the two events as they require different abilities and mindsets. But in spite of the differences, each event enriches our lives and that of the community in a profound way. Continue reading “The World at our Door”

It’s was a beautiful morning. I was sitting in my garden having a rest after putting in some more plants and then the day was shattered, like so many have been recently, by the news of another school shooting. “When is it going to end?” I asked myself. Everything has changed once again. What I was going to write about no longer seems relevant. The only things that matter now are all the families who have to go through the pain of losing their love ones in such a senseless way. Continue reading “Without Love”

There are very few beautiful words being created on the internet today. In fact, technology has resulted in very little prose or poetry of worth from a literary standpoint. Words are created in the mind’s eye, those haunting phrases that whirl around in your mind may make their appearance on paper, coming from the tip of your pen, but they seldom come from two thumbs on a phone. When you pick up an electronic device, something short-circuits and all that comes out is garbage…tweets, posts that somehow end up being more vulgar than you think of yourself as being, or sarcastic comments that you would hesitate to make in person. Continue reading “Beautiful Words”

This February, my brother would have been sixty-eight. Would have been, is the operative phrase since it has been thirty years since he was killed. Killed is the nice word, murdered is the truth. The other truth is that one never gets over losing someone unexpectedly, graphically and tragically. Even now, while the pain has lessened, the memories have not. The slightest thing will remind me of him. Continue reading “It Has to End”

I love to cook, but I have not always felt that way. I come from a family of great cooks on my mother’s side and as a child was somewhat intimidated, so I chose not to try. When I graduated from college, I had yet to even boil water. I was content to subsist on the fruits of everyone’s labor while reading Betty Crocker, the only cookbook my mother possessed. Continue reading “A Legacy of Cooking”

It’s that time of year again. The belated Christmas cards have stopped coming and now we are receiving all the documents we need to prepare our tax returns for 2017. The next step is to start our return. I don’t know which I hate most…notice I said hate, not dislike, as hate is the operative word…preparing tax returns or paying the actual tax. They are both painful and to be avoided if possible. Hating taxes is entirely American. It is after all, why our founding fathers started the revolution that would separate us from the British. This country had its beginnings in protest against taxes on tea and the protests have continued until this day. Continue reading “Tax Time”

I don’t especially like winters. The first snowfall is great, but it gets old quickly. On Monday, I was feeling grumpy and sorry for myself because of the snow and cold. Another day stuck inside. I was prepared to wallow in pity all day until I came across a YouTube video of Ethel Waters singing “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and the words, ‘Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home?’ The words took me back to my grandmother’s house in the little town of Spruce, Missouri. The town has all but disappeared now and my grandmother’s house has been gone for years, but I can still hear her singing that song as she went about her daily chores. Continue reading “I Sing Because I’m Happy”