Magic nostalgia time

November 10, 2020Leave a comment

I’ve been working on a poem lately about how different this summer was compared to summers past. And as I was pondering exactly what I was trying to get at with my poem, this came to me:

Summer is a magic time, full of nostalgia for the bygone days of my youth. But as summer fades inevitably into fall, I find myself growing wistful, for summer lasts but a short time, and it seems to grow shorter with each passing year.

Covid time has transformed ordinary seasonal longing for carefree summer fun into a yearning of the acutest kind; I crave a true return to normal life, the kind that will not be possible for some time. With fall fading fast into winter and case counts rapidly rising, it’s hard to hang onto hope.

I wish I could cast all my doubts and fears aside as easily as if I were tossing an anchor over the starboard bow; I wish I could pluck hope from the lake as easily as master anglers pull fish from the deep; I wish I could read the world’s future in my cards.

But since I can’t do any of that, I’ll keep writing about it all instead.

Fun in the sun

June 11, 2020June 11, 20204 Comments

That’s right – sun! June is nearly half over, but it doesn’t feel like it. We’ve had so much rain the past couple of weeks that I was beginning to think bright, bright sunshiny days were a thing of the past.

But today…

Scan City, Population: Me

May 19, 20202 Comments

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write. I have. It’s just that, well, I feel like I don’t have the words, or the brain power to form them. I could try to explain it, or you could just go read this post from Rarasaur, which says exactly how I’ve felt the past couple of weeks much better than I could.

So what have I been up to? Well, I’ve been scanning a lot of photos. I’m hoping that the process will be a little less time-intensive from here on out; I’ve finished scanning all the photo albums that my grandparents kept for me when I was growing up. My grandma wrote who was in each picture, the date it was taken, and what the event was (birthday, holiday, concert, etc.) on the back of every photo in those albums. I wanted to keep track of all that info, but…

Adventures in the kitchen, part 2

March 22, 2020March 21, 20201 Comment

In addition to French onion soup, I spent a little time in the kitchen last weekend trying to make a strawberry rhubarb pie, which is a family favorite. But I depleted my stash of frozen rhubarb a couple summers ago and I’m not sure I’ll be able to harvest any this year, since we transplanted our rhubarb over the summer and I’m just hoping it’ll come back.

But then one day as I was wandering the aisles of my local grocery store, I happened upon a can of strawberry rhubarb pie filling. I’d never seen such a thing before! Naturally, I had to buy a can to find out what it was like.

I dug a box of pie crust out of my deep freeze and set it on the counter to thaw while I got dinner going. Once the dinner dishes were done, I set out to make my pie, with a little help from Bubbles.

Apparently, though, I should have…

What a beautiful morning

January 2, 2020March 9, 20202 Comments

I got today’s video knocked out a bit earlier than yesterday’s. There was a beautiful sunrise this morning, and I couldn’t help shooting it:

Mornings are so pretty in Iowa. But it would be even more peaceful if the boys didn’t argue about every little thing.

Of course, since I’m me, I decided to add to the challenge by writing a poem to go with each day’s video. Yesterday I wrote a haiku about two of my kitties; today I wrote another one about how nice it would be if my kids did’t spend each morning’s wait for the bus in an argument over something. They argue about everything lately.

I’m excited about the poem aspect of this challenge. I’ve gotten back to work on The Lokana Chronicles, but I don’t want my poetry to fall to the wayside, and this will be a great opportunity to keep those poetic muscles in shape.

Well, that and the two poetry groups I’ve joined in the last six months. 😄

What about you – have you set any new year’s resolutions?

First Thanksgiving

November 24, 2019November 25, 20192 Comments

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our extended family today, and I was super excited to capture this moment shortly after dinner:

See, Bubbles has decided that he doesn’t like board games. Or cards. Seymour and I love both, so getting him to join us in a game is often very difficult. And relations between Bubbles and his brothers are often strained, largely as a result of proximity (I think), so I was so excited to see Bubbles not only playing a board game with Cricket, but also seeming to enjoy it.

Of all my many blessings, I am most thankful for my wonderful family. How about you – what are you thankful for?

Game day fun!

November 23, 2019Leave a comment

If there’s a better way to spend a Saturday than cheering on your favorite team with your family, then I don’t know it…

…and I’m not sure I want to.

What did your Saturday bring you?

Finally Friday

November 22, 20192 Comments

It’s Friday! Wooooo!

Between the final Panthers football game and Thanksgiving with our extended family, it’s gonna be a crazy weekend, but a fun one. What do you have planned?

Tea

September 28, 2019October 6, 2019Leave a comment

Tea and kluntje isn’t the same without milk, but it’s still pretty good.

We always drank tea with milk and kluntje growing up, usually at family get-togethers. Tea is comfort. Tea is family. Tea is home.

I’m drinking my tea with kluntje this afternoon and wishing I had some milk to go with it. It’s strong tea. German tea. It has a robust flavor when brewed properly, but I let mine steep too long today. It tastes almost…bitter.

Twenty-five years ago today, my mom passed away. I miss her every day. I wish that I could call her for advice. I wish that I could call her to ask about her day. I wish that I could remember her. I wish I had some milk for my tea.

It would be easy to become like my tea – dark and bitter. And for a while, I was. But as I sit here drinking my tea, wishing things were different, I’m reminded that even in the depths of darkness, there is still sweetness to be found. The cracked and broken shards of kluntje fill my mouth with sweetness. They’re strong, those remnants – they withstood the boiling tea.

The survived – and so did I.

I still miss my mom – I always will. But, like my tea, I am strong; I am robust. Like my tea, I can still bring comfort and joy. Like my kluntje, life has changed me – it has bent me, but it has not broken me. The hot water has worn me down, smoothed my rough edges, but it hasn’t melted me completely.

And I refuse to let it.

Ten years!

September 26, 2019October 5, 2019Leave a comment

Last time we went to Olive Garden for our anniversary, our waiter left us a special message on our pumpkin cheesecake (which was free since it was our anniversary). This year we had a different waitress and different cheesecake, but she still left us a special message, and our strawberry cheesecake was still free.

Mmm, pumpkin cheesecake…

Mmm, strawberry cheesecake…

The couple at the table next to us were celebrating 55 years together, which makes our ten years seem like a grain of sand in the hourglass of life, but it’s something to aspire to, the sunshine to dream of on cloudy days. And if I have anything to say about it, it’s a dream we’ll see fulfilled.

Happy anniversary to the man who’s done his best to make all my dreams come true, my partner, my encourager, my motivator, my best friend. The best is yet to come!