Every night, when I go into the darkened kitchen to get my cat’s bedtime treats, I see a bright light coming in the east window. I don’t know the people who live over there, but I’m sure they put up this security light for, well,…
I may be late to the table, but I just heard about something astounding: Engagement Chicken, a supposedly sure-fire dish to serve to a man that guarantees he will propose. I recognized it immediately. It was MY chicken, with no secret messages attached. This is…
One thing I love about Facebook is keeping current with news about Davenport, my hometown. No matter how often I visit, it remains jam-packed with a profound nostalgia that only grows stronger as time goes by. Take the Draught House, a place on the Mississippi…
After retiring from a column-writing gig lasting eleven years and yielding over 300 personal essays, I find I still have something to say. My thoughts range far and wide, and occasionally deep, on subjects including being an Iowan who misses Colorado; surviving marital violence; raising an amazing daughter and an equally amazing son; being justifiably angry about the world “these days;” writing poetry and plays; wondering if I’ll get Alzheimer’s like my mom and her two brothers; wanting to write about my twin granddaughters without sounding all Hallmark-y; fixing OCD-ish food; making sense of pants that come in shorts / crops / ankle-grazing / bootcut; being a librarian in public, academic, archival, and medical libraries; waiting 46 years to attend my high school reunion; having a gorgeous garden I can’t take care of; seeing a shaman; loving good men despite all the bad ones; and trying to wrest a little joy from life despite an 11-year-and-counting chronic migraine.