Every time change is in the air I remember how much I hate change. Sameness lulls me into thinking that somehow I’ve finally gotten past it, but then something different creeps in, and I’ve got knees made of Jello, a queasy stomach, and nights haunted with episodes of insomnia. Change. Just change. Nothing particularly negative…
Music to my Ears
I imagine that the year was 1961…September 11, assuredly…most likely 1961. Earlier in the summer my parents had purchased a used upright piano from some friends and decided that I would begin taking piano lessons that fall. I was an eight-year-old third grader, whose only prior musical knowledge was from the bits of family radio…
Best Laid Plans
I guess I still have a lot to learn regarding planning. A really good plan, apparently, is NOT simply outlining steps of a project. Creating a great plan, which is now my goal in life, should also include the “what ifs”…contingencies…detours, if you will. Why am I surprised? As I look back at pretty much…
Apples of Gold
I have a confession to make and a truth to share. Are you ready? This will knock your socks off. Back in March I started a new post. I was about five paragraphs in when my husband (whom I really do love) meandered over to my desk, pulled up a chair, and said, “Mind if…
Evolution of a Sugar Bush, Part 2
Learning and Growing That first year was intoxicating…we had our first taste of maple syrup from our own trees, we had the camaraderie of a small group of friends joining us in our quest, and we had glimmers of what could be in the future. As the saying goes, “We didn’t know what we didn’t…
Evolution of a Sugar Bush, Part 1
A Ten-Year Adventure Begins In 1989 we purchased this 31-acre chunk of property with gleams in our eyes for “working the land”, having no clear idea of what that really looked like. There were ten or so acres of overgrown pasture, a dozen or so neglected and sickly fruit trees, a couple of rows of…
“Too Soon Old and Too Late Smart”
…a memorable line from an obscure musical, “Plain and Fancy”; a life lesson uttered by an Amish papa to his daughter whose heart belonged to someone other than her betrothed… Friends and adult family are so tactful when addressing my age, but on occasion a young one will make note of the fact that my…
A Texan’s Take on Ohio Winters
As hard as it is for us to believe January 2019 marked our thirty-year anniversary of living in northeast Ohio. I’ve come a long way, physically and meteorologically, from southeast Texas. The winters I recall as a Texas tot were mild to chilly, with temperatures occasionally dropping below the freezing mark and warranting a jacket.…
Written on my Heart
I just got off of the phone with my sweet mom. I am really blessed to still have her on this earth. Living in her petite, senior apartment in Texas, she is a good thousand miles from me, but through the magic of cellular phones we get the feeling of closeness whenever one or the…
January Dreaming in
After a warmer than usual November and December old man Winter has finally arrived, unpacked all of his belongings, and taken up residence in northeast Ohio. I know that hot/cold/comfortable temperatures are all personal and relative, but most would agree that positive single digit or any negative windchill numbers fall somewhere between bitter and brrrr.…