Category: From My Book
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National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month. Launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month marks the importance of poets and poetry in our culture. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with millions of teachers, students, librarians, booksellers, and, of course, poets recognizing the impact of… Read more
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Mardi Gras
I never thought much about Mardi Gras until I met a gal who lived in New Orleans. When I lived in Oklahoma City, I worked as a traveling marketing representative for a nationwide insurance company, and she was the company’s marketing rep in Louisiana. Quarterly, we had to fly to San Antonio, Texas, for meetings.… Read more
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Shopping
I’ll show my age in this blog, but you already know I’m retired, so I’m obviously old. As a child growing up in Wisconsin, my mom would dress my sister and me in our Sunday best to go shopping in Milwaukee. Mom didn’t drive, so we took the city bus from the suburbs where we… Read more
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Hiking and Biking
With frigid winter weather keeping us indoors, I thought it might be uplifting to start making plans for some fair-weather activities. The Roanoke Region in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains is the place to visit if you love the outdoors. The area offers more than 700 miles of trails for hikers and bikers, including the Appalachian… Read more
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Jigsaw Puzzles
North winds are whipping, and the ground is frozen, so yardwork is out of the question right now—hooray! That gives me the excuse to dig out a jigsaw puzzle and get busy building a picture. Sometimes I glue the puzzle together when it’s done, frame it, and hang it on the wall. But most of… Read more
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Snowy Days
As children growing up in Milwaukee, my sister and I didn’t care what the weather was doing as long as we could play outside. Mom bundled us up in heavy coats with scarves, fuzzy earmuffs, snow pants, boots, double socks, and warm mittens, and we’d brave the cold to make snow angels in the backyard… Read more
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Two Years of My Life
When the first copies of my book arrived, Valerie, the matriarch of my bear collection, gathered some of the little bears around her to read to them. Sitting on piles of books, the stuffed animals were my first devoted fans, along with Walter, of course. My book, Finding Splendid Shelter, started out as a simple… Read more
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Touchdown!
I grew up in Wisconsin cheering for the Green Bay Packers during football season. They are one tough team when it comes to playing in frigid weather—the more snow, the better. The fans are even tougher, filling the stands while bundled up from head to toe with blocks of cheese on their heads. Nothing stops… Read more
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Veteran’s Day
My dad served in the Army during World War II. He rarely talked about that life event, but when he did, his face showed the pain of war. If I remember correctly, he worked in the military offices in the Philippines and fortunately did not see combat. Nevertheless, my mom said he came home a… Read more
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Play Ball!
The World Series begins this week, and we will be glued to the TV. Walter is passionate about baseball, and now I’m watching it with him. It reminds me of growing up in Milwaukee when my dad took my sister and me downtown to watch major league baseball. He’d buy us each a team ball… Read more