How many times have we been told “but it’s a dry heat” when we’ve heard about the triple digit temperatures of the desert southwest? As if that's supposed to make it less hot. But is it true? My friend Kathy and I have just returned from an eight day visit to Tucson, Arizona and during that time, they set a record high of 111 for the day after we got there, set a record for most number of days over 100 degrees, and welcomed the monsoon season that brought flash floods and gale-force Continue Reading
Tales From My Closet or The Day I Lost My Knees
If it’s summer, it’s closet inventory time for me. Once again, I’m amazed at what I discovered. Raise your hand if you have items in your closet that have no business being there. Keep your hand raised if you can shake your head and ask “what was I thinking?” This little trip in self-discovery started when I recently shopped for a pair of sport sandals. (I have always called these tendals – part tennis shoe, part sandal.) As I was contemplating the purchase, the sales kid reminded me Continue Reading
My Trip Home to Wisconsin’s Driftless Area
If Wisconsin is a pot roast, Vernon County and Viroqua, it’s government center, are the tasty little nuggets stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you’re willing to get off the freeway and adventure a bit, you’ll realize the richness and flavor it adds to the state. I know that's a reference not everyone will know, but if you grew up in Wisconsin, you ate pot roast! Bucolic views of rolling farmland. The clippity-clop of a horse pulling an Amish buggy. Fresh, white, au naturel cheese, not Continue Reading
Home Again, part 2
As soon as I was on the path from my car to the cabin, a snake slithered across the grass in front of me. I was so busy swatting the black cloud of biting gnats heading my direction, I almost missed it. Undeterred, I walked up the five steps to the porch and before I unlocked the door, I spotted the bat tucked into the corner of the porch ceiling. Great, just great. I was truly in the woods for the next six nights. Early that evening, I heard a slight scratch on the screen door and as I Continue Reading