He wore a green flannel shirt even though it was a warm day. He appeared disheveled and ill-kempt but oddly seemed to move with confidence and conviction. He carried an overstuffed backpack that was not fully-zipped and appeared haphazard and disorganized with miscellaneous clothing items protruding. I assumed he was a homeless person but wondered […]
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Thirty years later, and it had not changed. As I looked down the long corridor of the enclosed shopping mall in Colorado, there it was; just like I remembered it. Predominately orange and white store signage complemented by a blue and white picture of an upside-down ice cream cup. Everyone Starts Somewhere Three decades earlier, […]
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Once upon a time, I harbored dreams of seeing my name in lights on Broadway. I would play Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun and Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind. Oh alright, so Gone With The Wind was never a Broadway show – these are my dreams, […]
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February in Iowa isn’t exactly a time when we are overrun with tourists. That said, the month does have its perks, at least for some of us. The second of February is Groundhog Day. More importantly, it’s the day Bing and I chose to be married. June brides are vastly overrated, and February brides are […]
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For those of you who have asked how my stray kitty, Saint Francis, is faring, I’m happy to give you an update. For those of you who didn’t ask, I’ll give you an update anyway. Because I’m sure you meant to ask but it just slipped your minds. Saint Francis is faring very well. She […]
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When you read this, I will have been to Los Angeles and back, celebrating Christmas with our three California offspring, their spouses and children. I can’t tell you about it, though, since I’m writing this a week before I leave. Oh, bother, as Winnie the Pooh would say. It’s a bit of a muddle, he […]
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Every day seems to bring more allegations of sexual harassment or improper sexual behavior in some form. First, Harvey Weinstein was accused and convicted in the court of public opinion; and so many others including Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and Al Franken have fallen. The President stands accused by multiple women, and the Senatorial candidate […]
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Perhaps you will remember my column two weeks ago in which I whined that I was hosting seventeen for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, I really didn’t whine – just stated the fact that it would probably be a bit difficult for me because I am culinarily challenged. As you’ve no doubt been holding your collective breath […]
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I’m writing this the night before Thanksgiving. It may be my last Hurrah for a few weeks since tomorrow I am hosting a cast of thousands for Thanksgiving dinner. I will probably need weeks to recover. Okay, maybe the number is closer to 17, but for me, that’s a cast of thousands. My culinary skills […]
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With another Halloween behind us, I will confess I never much liked the spooky celebration. Even as a child, I wasn’t crazy about it. Trailing up to the neighbors’ doors, wearing a sheet over my head and holding out a sack for treats just didn’t seem like a fun way to spend a cold (always), […]
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