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The Preacher’s Kid by Harold Walker
My future husband and I hadn’t been dating for long before he started talking about Uncle Harold, his mother’s older brother. Uncle Harold lived in the Idaho mountains. Uncle Harold was a World War 2 pilot. Uncle Harold had bowed legs. Uncle Harold had an amazing...
The Lost Art of Caroling
The editor of the Boone News-Republican, our local newspaper, wrote an article about our church youth group’s annual caroling party. According to the reporter, the practice of caroling is dwindling away. If that is true, I mourn the loss because I know how much it...
A Splash of Color
This gray December day, darkness bears down like a weight upon my soul. Morning comes too late, evening comes too soon, and what light that comes is weak and faltering. My shoulders bend beneath the burden of darkness, my legs barely climb the stairs, my gaze looks...
Classic Meatloaf
Today’s recipe may say meatloaf, but it’s really part of my oatmeal-as-it’s-own-food-group campaign. In fact, the recipe comes from the back of the Quaker Oatmeal box, though I adjusted the amounts downward by 1/3. Being mostly meat, the recipe did receive the coveted...
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
I first heard of Jacqueline Winspear in October during a high school besties reunion weekend. We talked about books (a highlight of the weekend was rediscovering the shared love of reading and learning that drew us together in junior high), and one friend mentioned...
Small Mercies
Small mercies. Those are the words that come to mind to describe yesterday afternoon. Two other women and I went to Des Moines to visit a friend. Her husband collapsed on Thursday and was rushed to Mercy Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He’s been...