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Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent book, The Outliers, is a thought-provoking read. In it, the author examines the formative years of people whose successes so far outstrips the norm they are considered statistical “outliers.” In America, we say these people are self-made...
Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie
About a week ago, I listened to a National Public Radio story about rhubarb’s renewed popularity. The report fascinated me since I was making a strawberry-rhubarb crisp at the time, and obviously wasn’t aware it had fallen from grace. In an effort to spur on rhubarb’s...
Lessons from a Teeny, Tiny Toad
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way. Isaiah 53:6a The other day a tiny, dark pebble of a toad hopped across the road in front of me. When I halted, it did too, so I slowly eased my camera from its case and snapped a picture of...
Hometown Girl Makes It Big
Okay, okay, so this hometown girl hasn’t made it big yet, and I may never make it big. But for the first time in a long time, my hometown paper, The Le Mars Daily Sentinel ran a story about me in which I am not: a) Perched on an improvised Sopwith Camel b) ...
Happy Landing
Recently one of my childhood games, passed on to younger cousins when I outgrew it, was returned to me. The thrill of owning Happy Landings: A Geography Game (Whitman Publishing, 1962) did not overwhelm me when I received the game as a birthday present when I was 9 or...
Coffee Club Update
Mom and I have returned from our travels. In our 36 hours away from home the grass grew exponentially, much to Hiram’s chagrin, and the weeds did, too. Mom went to bed early and slept in late, and this morning she mentioned again how much she enjoyed the trip. The...