“Crumple it up and throw it in the trash.” A wise friend recently explained that this is what her pastor did with an anonymous note nitpicking the writing on a church bulletin, and she has taken the idea and run with it. And really, if a complaintant does not have the courage to face us [...]
Filed under: fear, holidays, women, writing | 6 Comments »
This semester I’ve been working with a student who is going on our service-learning trip to Peru in January. She needed an additional General Education class in liberal arts to graduate in the spring, so I agreed to do an Introduction to Gender Studies directed study with her on women in Peru (spread out over [...]
Filed under: Peru, creative non-fiction, education, fiction, food, good books, memoir, memoir writing, religion, research, travel, travel writing, weight watchers, women, writing | No Comments »
For a long while I’ve been meaning to write a little about how an old poem has helped me in dealing with my new grief. A new blogger friend of mine reminded me, coincidentally, of Alfred Tennyson’s great poem, In Memoriam, written after the unexpected death of his best friend, whose life was cut [...]
Filed under: creative non-fiction, grandma, grief, memoir, memoir writing, women, writing | 5 Comments »
This year was the second Christmas without Grandma. I didn’t fall apart like last year, when we decorated the tree. I didn’t get all sniffly when I prepared the lefse and rommegröt. I didn’t feel particularly glum when I cooked Grandma’s Swedish meatballs.
But I ate. A lot.
Even so, I did not [...]
Filed under: creative non-fiction, food, grandma, grief, holidays, lefse, memoir, memoir writing, weight watchers, women, writing | 5 Comments »
As I stated earlier, lefse is pretty good all on its own … but here is another Scandinavian dish that goes great with lefse for Christmas Eve dinner. As always, stories are included My lefse recipe and tips can be found in earlier posts (see lefse category at the right).
I like to serve [...]
Filed under: creative non-fiction, food, holidays, lefse, memoir, memoir writing, weight watchers, women, writing | 8 Comments »
Remember in The Hobbit how Gandalf travels with Bilbo and the Dwarves for a good long while and then he takes off, to their dismay, leaving them to face the mountain and the dragon alone…? Bilbo can’t fathom how they will manage without their wise mentor and the mastermind behind their operation. Well, my [...]
Filed under: Peru, creative non-fiction, education, fear, memoir, memoir writing, travel, travel writing, women, writing | 2 Comments »
Last night my son and I visited the local Veterans Administration Hospital to give a holiday concert with others from church. So cliche … but I cried, I laughed, I counted my blessings.
Driving to the church to meet up with folks to carpool to the V.A., I was dead beat. It’s been a [...]
Filed under: children, creative non-fiction, fear, grief, holidays, memoir, memoir writing, parenting, religion, women, writing | 6 Comments »
What to serve with lefse…? Nothing! Eat a stack of lefse for your whole meal No, seriously, there are a few items that go really well with lefse. I’ll be putting up recipes in the next few days, so you’ll have time to shop for ingredients. (P.S. Bonus story [...]
Filed under: American West, Minnesota, children, creative non-fiction, grandma, holidays, lefse, memoir, memoir writing, parenting, weather, women, writing | 2 Comments »
My dog ate Little Bo Peep. And Butcher Bear. Then she waited a day and ate Green Dove of Peace, for good measure. Monster! Bad, bad, bad dog!
I arrived home the other night to find my husband’s sad face greeting me at the door (no, he is not congenitally sad — this [...]
Filed under: children, creative non-fiction, grief, holidays, memoir, memoir writing, parenting, women, writing | 5 Comments »
A lot of folks have been coming to my site looking for advice on how to write a Christmas letter. While I think the important thing is just to do something (!) and not worry too much about what you include, I guess I can share some ideas or tips for those who may [...]
Filed under: children, creative non-fiction, holidays, memoir, memoir writing, parenting, women, writing | 5 Comments »
