Category Archives: Uncategorized

This week, I was talking with my 93-year-old aunt, Jan. Her memory for dates and events in the past is better than mine. She told me of the story of how she met and married my uncle, Al.She started the conversation with the statement:Al and I were married 70 years this May 29th. I hadContinue reading “Lost Love 5-25-26. 433 words”

I was looking for a topic for this week’s blog. I discovered this is International Pickle Week. I found there are over 23 types of pickles produced. That doesn’t include other pickled vegetables. For this article, pickles will be the topic.My Mom made bread and butter sweet pickles from the whites of watermelon rinds. ThereContinue reading “In A Pickle, May 18th, 2026. 493 words”

To identify birds in my area, I use the Merlin App. It is free from Cornell University. The Merlin will identify birds by their song. Overlapping songs can be identified. I just step outside in the morning to record about a minute of bird songs. The Merlin uses a large bank of recordings to helpContinue reading “The Birds and the Bees, May 11, 2026, 678 words.”

When my parents moved into a new home on Eaton Drive, there were only older couples with no children. They were about three active boys. Later, my brother Brian and I were added to the mix. The worried neighbors became surrogate mothers. The Smiths lived across the street. When they moved to a small farm,Continue reading “Different mothers in my life, May 4th,2026 some Religious Content 535 words”

This past Saturday, we were celebrating Mass with our sister parish, Holy Name of Jesus at St. Robert of Newminster . We gathered to honor 20 years of sharing the needs of each parish. Holy Name parish has a large number of first and second-generation Hispanic families. The school, San Juan Diego Academy, has 179Continue reading “Pride and Prejudice, April 27, 2026. 406 words”

This week may feel more like Noah’s Ark rather than spring. Normally, we receive a little over 3 inches of rain in April. Here in Western Michigan, we received three inches of rain in the last three days. We still have more to come. Consequently, we have the Thorn apple River and Grand Rivers overflowingContinue reading “The flowers and the Weeds, April 20, 586 Words”

This week, I had a pleasant surprise. My poetry book is in the final edit review. I sent this to D and L Books at the end of February, not expecting to hear from them for several months. Instead, David Dvorkin wrote to see if I had a Library of Congress book number. I did.Continue reading “Compost, The Book is Borm, April 13, 2026. 211 words”

Today, we celebrate Scottish heritage by wearing or displaying our clan’s tartans. 3.6 percent of the American population report having Scottish ancestry. There are four geographical areas that had different tartans to identify fellow kinsmen from a distance. The four areas were known as the Borderlands, Lowland, Highlands and Islands. Clans and their tartan dressContinue reading “National Tartan Day, Scottish Heritage, April 6, 2026 364 words”

Today is the most observed day of Triduum . After Holy Thursday’s washing of the feet by the priest. The alter is cleared. Even the consecrated host are moved out of the church to another location with the large host placed in the Monstrance to be meditated and kept company in sharing Jesus agony inContinue reading “Good Friday Remembrance April 3rd, 2026. 354 words Religious content”

I look forward to the tradition of cross buns available during Holy Week, before Easter. My local bakery has the confection starting this past Friday. The confection is a rounded spicy bun with raisins and other dried fruits in the dough. The top of the bun has either a cross indentation or a white frostingContinue reading “Cross buns Tradition, March 30, 2026 320 words”