June is upon us! Here’s the June 2015 Challenge for those who wish to participate in it. For those who are new to this idea. Simple snap a picture or write a blog post about the #day. Then, post it on your favorite social media such as Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and put a link to me. Here’s where to connect me: Instagram Facebook Twitter VSCO.co Happy June!
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I love the smell of pine trees. We had eleven Norway pines in the yard of my childhood home. They were great for my two brothers and me to climb. They caused an awful lot of work for Mom who scrubbed to remove the sap from our clothing. Our cat, Scamper, loved the pines too. Once Mom had to climb fifteen feet up one of the Norways because we kids thought the cat was stuck to sap. That day, pinecones rattled from their branches to the cushiony needle bed below to coincide with the anger coming from our mom.…
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Day 29 Favorite Smell in the Moments of May 2015 Challenge One of my first olfactory memories is Mom putting Baby Magic on my baby brother Steve. Somehow, the manufacturers of the baby lotion captured newborn innocence in a bottle. Close behind my first memory is my second: Johnson’s Baby Powder. The fluffy powder – who knows if its smell brought me back to my own babyhood days – but its fragrance has always calmed me – something like the sound of birds chirping makes me feel all is well in the world. Growing up with two brothers, I was…
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“…he leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul…” Psalm 23:2-3 My happy place is by the sea. The whys are stated below. 1. Sea music. You don’t need to bring your own music to the beach. The sea has its own sound system. It plays a lullaby and allows you to rest and think. Other days, it’s a constant repertoire of crashing cymbals and thunderous drumrolls. The waves unchink the stress right out of you. Your thoughts are silenced by the concert of the sea. Your soul is hushed by its never repeated notes. 2. Water People.…
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Day 15 is “Take my advice and…” in our Moments in May 2015 Challenge. Sometimes I bristle when people give me unsolicited advice. I want to say back to those offering it, “If I’d have wanted your advice, I’d have asked.” I hope this feels more like a “Guide to a Happy Life” post. At least, the following is how I have made a happy life. Cheers! 1. Get yourself a dog. My friend Cheryl has a funny saying about the difference between dogs and cats. Dogs wait on you. Cats want a staff. We’ve owned both and there is nothing like…
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No matter the season, you will love the vibrant, al fresco feel to this Bean Salsa Recipe. My family eats it with tortilla chips as well as a meal in itself. Enjoy! Bean Salsa recipe by Jessy Olsen Makes: a lot Ingredients Veggies, Herbs and Beans and Sweet Corn 1 can 15 oz black beans, drained 1 can 15 oz pinto beans, drained 1 can 15 oz kidney beans, drained 1 can 15 oz garbanzo beans, drained 4 stalks celery, chopped 1 bag fresh sweet corn, thawed (or not, if you’re not going to serve it immediately) 1 sweet onion,…
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Planned vacations dangle. Make us wait like quivering whiskered rabbits. Two months away. Only a week before we leave. Some vacations are relaxing. Some, like my and my husband’s March 2014 trip to Kaua’i, was a planned adventure. The encounter with the island left me a changed girl. The day before we’re set to leave, we check in, confirm our seats, re-sort what to take, refill travel bottles and, new for me, pack hiking boots. We plan to see secret beaches, the second Grand Canyon, a presence of year-round summer-like temperatures and sunshine, fog, some snorkeling, some hikes, and a…
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Everything comes to those who wait. Longfellow My husband, known around here as the Night Ranger, and I embark on our two-hundred-mile drive up north to the cabin. He wants to get the pontoon out of the pole barn and make room for other things. “Let’s do it today,” he says. I want to, too. Two seasons is two too long to wait for the ice to melt in Ottertail County, Minnesota. Time to launch it. Whirling somewhere in the gray matter, though, is the thought that the pontoon never gives us an easy go of it. Whether it’s getting…
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Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. – Hunter S. Thompson How can I possibly narrow the kinds of songs I like down to a favorite? To get me thinking, I ask myself what songs I would pick for…
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“Most diaries begin all at once, with a rolling up of sleeves, and intake of breath — and a here goes.” from Thomas Mallon’s A Book of One’s Own: People and Their Diaries Day 4 of the Moments in May 2015 Challenge is to post a writing about or a photo of a diary entry. I’ve kept a diary for as long as I can remember. The earliest diary I have is from 1971, the year I was a seventh grader in Pat Fatchett’s English class at Portland Junior High School in Bloomington, Minnesota. Pat made us keep a year-long…
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