I enjoy receiving and leafing through Land's End catalogues. For the twenty years we've lived in Florida however, serious purchase consideration has been primarily limited to light weight knits, chlorine resistant swimsuits, and various lengths of shorts. All those wonderfully … Read more
On my first assignment as a supply teacher, I spent the hour before the start of school looking over the various mathematics lessons that I would teach that day. What clever examples I had devised for illustrating the commutative, associative, … Read more
In the movie Contact, a search committee decides that the person representing Earth to other life in our universe should believe in God. The courageous heroine of the film, portrayed with all of Jodie Foster's usual intensity, cannot meet that … Read more
It took more than an hour, but I finally got the window shade brackets securely attached in just the right spot so that my son's room-darkening shade could be hung. It was summer vacation after all, and sometimes even 11-year-old … Read more
Aunt Edna prided herself on her independence. No one was allowed to assist her in the maintenance of her home or even to drive her to and from her dialysis treatments. She was a good and generous person, but absolutely … Read more
I finally got to live among hills, mountains actually, during our much anticipated family vacation in Alaska. For most of our holiday we were blessed with clear, crisp weather, allowing for fantastic visibility. On other days we were blessed with … Read more
When my daughter and I attended a concert recently, we were disappointed to discover that our seats were quite a bit farther from the stage than the TicketMaster chart had led us to believe. "At least we're not in the … Read more
Several times throughout the year, our town's ecumenical group of Christians – Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Catholics – gather for a joint worship service. The hosting church usually provides the liturgy and choir, and a visiting preacher or … Read more
A young woman asks if I have signed up for an upcoming 5K "Fun Run." "Oh, Karen, I'm not a racer; I just chug along for my health." "But how do you know until you try? How can you improve … Read more