I have long believed that what happens on your birthday says a lot about the year ahead. This is mostly because what you decide to do on that day says a lot about what you value at that moment. But …
Last week, my daughter came home from school, laid her head down on the kitchen counter, and started to cry. “I’m SO BOOOOOORED!” she sobbed. This was after nearly two weeks with no …
The following is a parable which is to say: It has some truth in it, but I am trying to make a point, not relay facts. I can’t tell you exactly what happened and I’m not trying …
I just finished listening online to a sermon my Episcopalian friend Whitney Kimball Coe gave on Sunday. She begins her message by telling the congregation that while her decorations, including …
It’s seed catalog season again—the most glorious time of the year! Well, perhaps not the most glorious More often than not seed catalog season falls around the same time cabin fever …
It’s cold. So cold the school just called to say they are starting late tomorrow if they start at all (they will re-evaluate in the morning…) So cold the livestock sale barn where my …
I wrote last week about the death of a beloved community member. I did not expect to be writing another column about the same topic this week, but, after another huge loss, I can’t imagine …
The weather finally turned cold this week. Yesterday, we got our first substantial snowfall, and today the windchill temps are well below zero. Winter has very much arrived. Of course, that also …
Much of the midwest and west was blanketed in snow for Christmas this year, but my daughter spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve sunbathing on the porch in shorts and a t-shirt because Western South …
In the winter, I often bring warm water to the chickens. Kitty, the unofficial queen of the coop, always gets to the water first, and as is her custom, pecks authoritatively at the head of anyone who …
The house we bought at the edge of town sits on three acres that used to be a sheep yard. In addition to the small, red barn on the east side of the property, there is an even smaller white shed that …
My daughter’s birth day is a week before Christmas, which she loves. “I get twice as many presents!” she of ten reminds her broth er, who has to wait until June to get a sec ond …
My daughter’s birthday is a week before Christmas, which she loves. “I get twice as many presents!” she often reminds her brother, who has to wait until June to get a second wave of …
Last week marked my tenth wedding anniver sary to the Man of the Ranch. As is our cus tom with momentous occasions, we celebrat ed by staying home, doing our chores, and since it also happened to …
Last week marked my tenth wedding anniversary to the Man of the Ranch. As is our custom with momentous occasions, we celebrated by staying home, doing our chores, and since it also happened to fall …
Those of us who dwell west of the Missouri and east of the Rocky Mountains know something about wind I’d wager the rest of you don’t. That’s a bold statement, I know, and I’m …
Those of us who dwell west of the Missouri and east of the Rocky Mountains know something about wind I’d wager the rest of you don’t. That’s a bold statement, I know, and I’m …
Every year I think about planting tulip and daffodil bulbs. Some years, I remem ber to buy the bulbs, most years I don’t. And only twice have the bulbs I miraculously remembered to buy and …
Every year I think about planting tulip and daffodil bulbs. Some years, I remember to buy the bulbs, most years I don’t. And only twice have the bulbs I miraculously remembered to buy and plant …
This year, we’ve had a few cold, gray days, but for the most part it has been warm and sunny. I keep telling the kids we need to get outside and enjoy the last of the fine weather, but as balmy …
