Singing in the Rain (and Fog)
Will it never end? We’ve been living in a fog for so long I’ve lost count of the days. The ground is so saturated from rains I squish my way to the barn, thinking my front lawn has now become a bog. I feel like I’m starting to mold! We’re staring down July 4 a week away […]
After the Storm
The day before was a perfect Wisconsin day—sunny, low eighties, completely still. I could hear the spring peepers still out in our ponds and the barn swallow hatchlings in their nests as mamas flew in with their meal. But weather often changes fast around here. It rolled in last night after dark. A low rumble […]
A Mother’s Lament on Father’s Day
Father’s Day. We all went to church together—that little country Orthodox Presbyterian church up the road in our little Dutch community. We’re not Dutch and in a place where the funny motto, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much” floats around, we sure do feel welcomed here in this old church. They’re the kind of […]
Come to Bed with Us
My longest blog post EVER! It’s a serious start that gets hilarious. I think you’ll agree. Stick with me? Laughter is great soul food. Hard decisions. This med or that med? Lower meds or higher meds? A new diagnosis on top of all the others we’ve been living with for years has sent shock waves […]
Turn Over
Some people want do-overs of days or weeks or even years. What we really need is a turn-over. I traipse carefully to the barn over icy patches beginning to melt. Sound of birds chirping a new day tell me our long wait is near over. Spring is coming soon. Grain and vitamins scooped into each […]
Ashes
Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down . . . We sang it for fun, way back when I was young. Didn’t know the meaning. Still don’t. Urban legend says it’s about people dying horrible deaths during the Black Plague that swept through Europe long ago. But […]
FAT
All over the world, people are getting fat today. Because today is Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins our forty day march to the cross of Christ and we mark tomorrow with ashes. Different cultures were busy baking their sweet tradition yesterday, making them ready for eating today. The delicious, jelly-filled dough balls covered […]
Plowed
I traipsed to the barn at 7:00 AM through three feet of drifted snow. The path was no longer visible, yet the storm had just begun. Dressed in two base layers, three middle layers, a down jacket, and wool hat, I was prepared for the weather. Still, 30 mile per hour southeast winds blew […]
Dis-Abled
Our daughter has been in her new apartment for a month now. The transition has not been easy on her—or us. In fact, she has been mad as a hornet, trying everything she can think of to get us to give up—to give in—to let her move back home. She has tried her passive-aggressive tactics. […]
The Eve and Morn of Grace
We started the New Year with a bang! Not of pots and pans clanging as in years past or of firecrackers traditional. We were just five hours short of the midnight hour, to be exact. Zach backed out of the garage with Nick in the passenger seat on his way to a friend’s for an […]
Greedy for Grace
As we end the year and wake to a new, I am reflecting on how I’ve grown. And the answer is I’ve grown into a person greedy for grace. I’ve become a person more comfortable with the reality that I’m not as self-sufficient as I thought and that, really, I’m really dependent. The hard knocks […]
Blessing of Beauty
My dad’s and my relationship is an example of how, with God, all things are possible. We’ve had a rather rough and sometimes downright distant relationship through the decades for numerous reasons. But I’ve prayed and waited and done right in honoring him as my father. The years have softened us both and today, we […]