We made Grandma’s seven layer salad again this year and it was a perfect paradox of gloppy-yet-crunchy. Ivan roasted the turkey traditional style instead of smoking it, like he did in 2010. Robin’s day care artwork provided atmosphere: a painted pumpkin pie dusted with real cinnamon for olfactory and visual decoration. I ran in Sacramento’s … Continue reading »
Topping the hill on CA-104 about a mile from the left turn to re-enter Rancho Seco Park, I reached back into the pouch of my bike shirt for my water bottle. I had stashed several small bottles in my shirt pockets because I am too wobbly a rider to reach down to the lower bar … Continue reading »
It’s funny when you take second graders on a trip to Apple Hill and they all want candied apples but most of them have their two front teeth missing or one adult tooth is in and the other one is a loose baby tooth or Both front teeth are fully in jagged Perfectly suited for … Continue reading »
This is Just to Say I have eaten the Halloween candy that was in your bag and which you are probably old enough to remember exists now Forgive me it was delicious so sweet and so chocolatey Thanks to my writer pal Laura Meehan for this poem. It captures the essence of what I will … Continue reading »
OK, so I’ve tattled on both my kids this week–Camilla and her puff ball pet and Robin with his stuck finger misadventure. It’s time to tattle on myself and on my husband, who wasn’t my husband yet at the time of this story. Waaaay back in 1994 we were high schoolers who liked to make … Continue reading »
Daddy, pull my finger! Pulling the finger would not result in a toot on this particular occasion though I suspect a toot would have been more enjoyable for all involved. Robin was stuck. In the red coin-operated car in front of the Dollar Tree store. What began with a Memorial Day morning donut fetch and … Continue reading »
The other day I found this list on the dining room table: ? After Camilla’s scientific demonstration, I can now lay it out for you. The first three items on the list are the life cycle of a puff ball. First it’s an egg (actually a bead from a craft set). When the egg hatches … Continue reading »
When my grandfather, John Alan Hord, died on Mother’s Day 2008, Ivan and Camilla and I got in the car for a memorial drive. Granddaddy loved to take drives to see things and buy peaches or whatever was fresh at the farm stands. We were living in Memphis, TN at the time. We decided to … Continue reading »
Happy Birthday to me, and to the Bard! I kicked off my birthday week in style with a wine tasting at Story Winery. Yesterday was unseasonably warm, but with those breezes wafting up the Amador hills from the the Cosumnes River valley, my constitution (made pansy by Northern California’s cool, rainy season) did not suffer … Continue reading »
My husband, a pastor, is at a conference in Anaheim for the week. I don’t envy him the time away though. The conference allows for very little down time, certainly not enough to go to Disneyland or even so much as hop the monorail. The agenda for his Saturday 8:45 am is titled “How Pastors … Continue reading »
