My mother grew up in Iowa and lived there for 88 years. Then she moved in with my younger sister and her hubby in the Santa Cruz mountains in California. It’s dark in the redwood forest, especially in the winter. Mom can’t see the sky, which is hard when you’ve looked at the sky every… Continue reading Prairie Girl in the Woods
Category: Iowa
The Problem with the Midwest
I am from Iowa (now a Californian), so I think I can write about this without being accused of cultural appropriation. People in the Midwest are insulated from a lot of what is happening right now. It’s true that two meat-packing plants have had to close down due to the Covid-19 virus, but most people… Continue reading The Problem with the Midwest
A Murphy’s Law Kind of Post
(re-run) I love thrift stores. I buy pretty much everything there, which is great because that way I am not paying retail and usually don’t pay sales tax, either. I don’t get the extra packaging that is so hard to get things out of. It sometimes takes a team of rocket scientists to figure out… Continue reading A Murphy’s Law Kind of Post
My Two Gophers
Now before you tell me that gophers are solitary creatures and that I only have one gopher, let me explain that I have a little beach house with a gopher and my regular house with a gopher. I am an Iowa girl, living in California. So both houses were bought because of the property that… Continue reading My Two Gophers
How to Self-quarantine in California
The Corona virus Covid-19 is upon us. We need to practice social distancing, especially if we are old. I am doing my darnedest to distance myself. My plan today was to be at Costco at 9:00 a.m. to get a few things. 100 people beat me to it. I saw the line at the door… Continue reading How to Self-quarantine in California
Leroy, the Farmer Boy
It was a Saturday night and the dorm floor was deserted. Everyone was off doing something fun. Ellie sat at her desk trying to study Biology 101, but she wasn’t feeling it. A dorm mate burst in and asked her if she wanted to go on a double date right then and there, to a… Continue reading Leroy, the Farmer Boy
My Free Farm Dog
I saw three Aussie-mix puppies today. They are ten to twelve weeks old and gorgeous! I remember Pepper as a puppy just four years ago. I am too old to house-train another puppy. But they were so cute! I had a Brittany spaniel/Australian Blue Heeler mix puppy way back in the day. My future husband… Continue reading My Free Farm Dog
Easy Rider
My neighbor, Joan, would roll her parents’ car out of the garage when we were in 9th grade so we could go driving in the middle of the night during her slumber parties. We’d fall into fits of hysterical laughter when Mr. Bast, the milkman, would go by in his milk truck. But we didn’t… Continue reading Easy Rider
Total Eclipse of the Date
The last solar eclipse over the continental U.S. was on Monday, February 26, 1979. Claudette worked in the x-ray department at Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. She and her co-workers took some x-ray film and went outside to look at the sun through the film. They were not in the path of totality (had… Continue reading Total Eclipse of the Date
Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard
The college mixer was hosted by the men in Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State campus. Tappan House, the top two floors of my dorm, Barton Hall, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs. The usual… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 