I finished it. Yay me! I can summarize the book in a single sentence. Get rid of things that no longer have a purpose or spark joy and keep only the things that are purposeful or meaningful. I’m not sure why I read a book on decluttering a home. The book wasn’t in my wheelhouse, but I’d just donated many dear books to a library and sought affirmation I’d done the right … [Read more...]
A lane was closed to ease congestion
A turtle passed me. It was a bafflement. I’d been humming the theme from “Jeopardy” as I paused on a busy highway. The turtle gave me a keen grasp of my situation. I don’t know what kind of turtle it was because it zoomed by so quickly. It might have been a Mitsubishi, but I think that was what I was driving. Upon further investigation, I discovered it was Labor Day and I … [Read more...]
We take odd things and make them our things
Why are the cardinals the last birds to leave the bird feeders at the end of the day? That’s a good question asked by a reader. I tell people they have asked good questions and hope that makes them feel good when I’m unable to answer their inquiries. I think I’ve got this one. Cardinals are among the earliest visitors in the morning and the last to leave the feeders at … [Read more...]
What did you learn or forget in school today?
I knew it was coming. It was an after-school special. I should have been prepared, but I never was. My young mind had been cast adrift in rough seas and it was easier to don a cloak of panic. “What did you learn in school today?” Mom asked me that every time I came home. Why couldn’t she have asked me what my favorite dinosaur was? That was a lot of pressure. There … [Read more...]
You can look at an eagle for a long time
“Which is better, one or two?” I wasn’t a jam judge at the county fair. I was having an eye exam. The optometrist asked me repeatedly which of the two lens choices improved my vision. I couldn’t tell and never can. I picked one by doing a “One, two, sky blue, all out except you” in my head. I want splendid vision and I appreciate those with splendid visions for the … [Read more...]
The Fair is where any problem can be solved with onion rings
It’s too hot, too humid, too rainy, too cramped. Too bad. Like moths to a lightbulb, we are drawn to it. It’s the local equivalent of Disney World. It’s the County Fair, a vast land of stomach-expanding foods. Men are powerless against massive quantities of grease. My neighbor Crandall, a noted carnievore who always asks for extra grease, said he was just going to have a … [Read more...]
Pickleball-playing pioneers found no place to practice on the prairie
They discovered the dried remains of a long-dead bird in a keepsake box. That caught my attention. Those weren’t catch-and-release words. A Nebraskan was sharing a tale from the days when covered wagons roamed that state. On the way to meet the Cornhusker and others at a state park, I’d seen a sign advertising an open house for a home for sale. I figured it wasn’t for a sod … [Read more...]
I’m not a lawn whisperer nor a lawn enforcement officer
Have you ever wondered how many people collect matchbooks? I have. I was curious for no apparent reason. It was one of those things that enters my mind as if it were a message sent from my home planet. I’d been working on my pocket knife collection. I have one in my vast collection — two if I could find the other one — when a matchbook grabbed one of my glittering … [Read more...]
Tote that bag or go to tote bag camp
The weather was close. That’s how my mother would have described it. Stifling humidity surrounded me and it wasn’t pleasant company. I’d told stories on stage at the state fair and had a break before yapping again, so I took a stroll on the fairgrounds. The sounds of the fair rushed over, by and through me. I enjoyed watching people eat things I’d never eat unless I was … [Read more...]
Like men’s body spray, the fetid smell lingered
Cheap gas! I hit the brakes and swerved off the road because a gas station, long out of business, left a sign proclaiming its ancient gas prices. There should be a law against leaving those signs standing. I’m sure the police had grown weary of responding to rear-end collisions in that spot. I parked and got out of my car, hoping to use the stop to stretch my legs. The odor … [Read more...]