Anyone moving from coast to coast across America by air has no idea of the peculiarities and oddities of small towns.  Furthermore, people crossing this country by car via the interstate system give Kansas and the states of the Great Plains a bad rap.  There are definitely long stretches of fairly f...

Way back in March, my husband came to me and asked if I’d like to see James Taylor at the Hollywood Bowl in May, for my birthday.  I was so touched, because I know that Dave is less of a fan than I am.  I thought that I had seen James Taylor live for the last time several years ago, so I agreed that...

Each year I end my Michigan summer with a photo of a sunset over the lake.  It isn’t the last sunset or the prettiest sunset or even my favorite sunset.  Every night is a unique and inspiring display.  But this year it was one perfect moonset that took my breath away.  I am habitually an early riser...

After our travels with Charlotte, I thought that the rest of my summer would be spent in our small summer community on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Once I’m there, I have little inclination to go anywhere else.  But my daughter surprised me with the idea of a Labor Day weekend trip for the two of u...

On the penultimate day of our travels with Charlotte, we headed out on our final excursion.  I had planned a hike through one of my favorite of Indiana’s state parks, Turkey Run.  About an hour away from Indianapolis, there are hiking trails through stream-carved canyons, unexpected in this midweste...

Some of my fond memories from my school days in Indiana involve field trips, and one of my favorites was to the Conner Prairie Farm.  It’s a living history museum where docents dress in period clothes and adopt a persona of someone from another era of American life.  When we would visit during the f...

Last week, I pulled a necklace out of my jewelry box.  It has two charms on it, both from my grandmother’s old charm bracelets.  One is a simple heart with my name and birthday on it.  The other commemorates the anniversary of my parents’ first wedding.  As I put the necklace on, I realized that two...

As soon as David recovered from his bout with Covid, it was time for us to take our granddaughter, Charlotte on her trip with the grandparents.  My desire has always been to take each of the littles on a specially designed excursion around the time they are eight or nine years old.  I took my own so...

Shortly after we got to Michigan, my extended family started arriving for a week of reunion.  As happens at large gatherings these days, by the end of the week five people had tested positive for Covid.  One of those was my husband.  I ended up moving into the upstairs guest room for over a week, so...

As we planned our cross-country drive, I put Meredith in charge of finding kid-friendly hotels.  I’ve already mentioned how adept she is at finding restaurants and excursions.  She knows what her boys like, and a swimming pool at the end of a long day of driving is high on the list.  However, in Sio...