Pickles, Wonder Food of the Future; or all about carflickles

I thought pickles were a nothing food, no value, no calories, not really food, just salt. I thought they were just there on my plate in a restaurant for the crunch and the pucker, you know? Something sorta green on the plate to make it look like there’s more variety? Turns out [...]

On Gratitude…

I’ve read two unrelated articles in the last day that have really made me stop and think. I’ve been in mega self-improvement mode for the last year, and two weeks from tomorrow my sabbatical ends and I go back to teaching full time, so I’m trying to tie up some loose ends.
Looking back [...]

Adventures in Buying Local: Visiting the Fishmongrel

I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  A fabulous read, I thought, as did my book group from church.  I knew that there were good reasons to buy local and all that, but it was inspiring reading about how Kingsolver’s family spent a whole year trying to eat only food grown by [...]

Miscellaneous Meme

Praying to Darwin tagged me (well, anyone who was reading her, actually!) and I promised a response. Here goes:
What I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
June 1998: Living in Palouse, WA, a town of 1,000 people located about 17 miles from Pullman, WA, a city of 35,000 and the metropolis of the region. I was on [...]

Clinton Landed Here???

For a while now, I’ve been puzzled by a monument at the soccer field where my son practices. I (soccer mom that I am!) often pull into the parking spot right in front of this rock with a plate commemorating an auspicious occasion. Recently, however, I began to think more deeply about this monument….

So what [...]

Hobbes; or, On Tigers and Boys

As requested by struggling writer, I am posting about my son’s stuffed animal, Hobbes, today. Here is a picture of him (Hobbes, not struggling writer!) in the back seat, where I tossed him Tuesday when I was rushing to go see vomit-boy at overnight camp. Since I never actually made it to camp (see [...]

Camp for Kids: Not the Way it Used to Be…and That Is a Good Thing!

No electronics. No food from home. No parents. YIPPEE, the kids squealed. The parents smiled in the back row of the informational session about the Nature Camp where our children are heading for a week in May. Hmmm. No kids for a week. Hmmm.
This morning after a great [...]

Ten Joys to Chase Away February Blahs

Montessori Mama posted ten joys that chase away the February blahs, and she invited others to do the same. (She got the idea from Soule Mama.)
My ten Feb. faves:
1. Snow. I grew up in California and still think snow is utterly and completely miraculous.
2. Reading a good book under warm covers. I love to [...]

Great Book: Three Cups of Tea

Awesome book!! If you read no other book this year, read this one. Flat out, this is one of the best reads I’ve encountered in a while. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, is a fascinating, [...]

Good Book Recommendation: Tales From Nowhere

When I went to Peru, I brought a travel essay collection with me. This book has clocked a lot of miles and looks worse for wear after being lugged around in my daypack or backpack for seventeen days. The water I spilled on it in Casma makes it look all warped and well [...]