Jan 18, 2022
The latest rumors portend that you know who may be spitting out a print or digital or audible book EVERY SINGLE MINUTE. The market is totally saturated with everything from fabulous writing to absolute garbage. I lean heavily toward the second category because of the...
Dec 20, 2021
*All grammatical errors intentional* 1933. Oklahoma. December 24, 7:30 p.m. If I want Doodles to sleep warm as buttered biscuits, I’ll have to do some more quilt tucking. I press it in good and tight all along her side and under her chin. There. Now she won’t...
Nov 23, 2021
Dressing is Emotional It’s emotional because it embodies place, race, memories, holidays, hearth and home. Whatchacallit Matters It seems the term stuffing didn’t fit the decorum of the Victorian upper class, so they renamed it dressing. Today, it depends...
Nov 2, 2021
ANTS! Love ’em or hate ’em, they are a fact of life. Sometimes, they are hailed as heroes; sometimes, they are kind of evil. Ants gather ancient relics and jewels from the earth Listen, if you grew up on a ranch in the mountains of Arizona as I did with no...
Mar 3, 2021
Crazy Chocolate Cake! No eggs, no milk, and a bit of vinegar. Hand mix. You won’t believe the texture. If you follow the instructions and don’t let this cake overbake*, you’re going to throw away all your 15-Steps to the Perfect Chocolate Cake recipes. This one...
Oct 26, 2020
Why Did Most of America’s First Professional Athletes Disappear From Sight? Does it matter? Yes, actually, it does. Why? It matters because . . . in the first Kentucky Derby of 1875, 13 of the 15 jockeys were black men, many of whom were born slaves. It matters...
Aug 13, 2020
Imagine being excited about calling your city a fruit. That’s exactly how several million people in New York City feel when they reference their city as The Big Apple. How that nickname came to be has multiple stories associated with it, but my favorite one is...
Jul 1, 2020
My Aunt Dobbie held certain religious views and didn’t, no ma’am, allow any of us girls to wear “blue jeans,” shorts, or sleeveless blouses. Not her four daughters. Not any niece who came to visit or stay for the summer. *that would be me* Back home in Arizona, I...
Apr 22, 2020
It’s Spring! Time to think about . . . Tomatoes! How we love them. How we need them. Need them? Sure. I’ll prove it. Forget all the antioxidant lycopene, the vitamins C and K, the potassium and folate packed inside these little guys and just try to imagine a...
Mar 26, 2020
Beginning writers face many obstacles. Recently, someone asked for advice in a writing group online. She wanted to write novels but said everything stays a draft because she feels too insecure to continue and doesn’t really know what she’s doing. Further, each time...
