Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

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Friday, January 18, 2013

What this country needs is Ninja Grannies

Git the word out. It's time to put a stop to this bass-ackwards debate over the Second Amendment. Ninja Grannies - you know who you are - grab your bar of lye soap and a couple a willow switches, because you're gonna need 'em. Ain't you sick of them lies and damn lies a spinnin' out there from folks... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The War Years - (WWII) - excerpt from 7th Dimension

Note - The Saratoga was one of the first aircraft carriers, a ship originally designed to be a battle cruiser, but modified to add a flight deck in the early 1930s. The Lagroix character in this story is based on the real Chief Gunner who charmed my mother and then never came back after the war. I'm... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Kids, today...

My oldest son was over on Sunday, we talked over coffee for awhile and then went out to a late lunch at the IHOP - I had a couple Swedish crepes with lingonberry butter & a spoonful of the jam, gluten be damned. We talked about Walmart policies, how their management style affects employees - himself... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Spur of the Moment...

Yesterday. 5:30 a.m. Reading Writer's Digest, January, 2013. Page 51: headline Enter Yourstory. Contest #47. Write a short story 750 words or less, using the following prompt: "A man who lives alone sees a set of footprings leading away from his house the morning after a heavy snowfall. Deadline:... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 14, 2013

There's more horse's a$$es than horses.

There were professors and administrators at my desk every day, asking questions, making their down-their-nose pronouncements, generally projecting the fact they were in charge and I was a petty functionary. Do you think one of them would admit things got done whether they were there or not, but if... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Leaving Dakota - Excerpt

Note - Years ago my mother told me she was six and the fever struck in mid-summer, but official records show Bert caught Typhoid in November, when she was eleven. Typhoid fever struck the Yakima Valley in the fall of 1917, and in November the whole family got sick, except for little Roy, who’d eaten... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Homesteading the Dakota Territory (excerpt)

As soon as they arrived and set up a temporary camp, the men worked together to drill wells and build sod houses and stock barns on all of their claims. Sod structures were built by layering plowed strips of sod from the virgin prairie to a height of about eight feet to form walls. Openings were... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Olden Days - excerpt

Lucy was nineteen and Bert was two years older when they married in 1905. Their daughter Margaret Estella was born in August, 1906. Mae (Nettie Marian) was born in January of 1908, followed by Ella Grace in March 1909. In order to support his family, Bert worked as an itinerant carpenter, taking... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Dusty attics and old scrapbooks

Sometimes when you get into Ancestry.com it's like finding a scrapbook from your grandmother's childhood. The census records fill in a few blanks, as do the military muster files. Cleared up a few of my questions... I had this scene from my grandmother's early married days - Lucy and Bert in about... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Live Poets and Society

At the Labor Day Bumbershoot festival in Seattle a few years back I went to the author's pavillion to hear a poetry reading. Bumbershoot takes place on the grounds at the Space Needle / Children's Science Center / Music Museum. It draws thousands of people, and when you go in the gate you buy... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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