Blog
As a curious observer of life, I blog on writing, marketing, my prairie - anything that interests me in the moment. I like to have conversations with readers, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I'll respond.
“I could eat my way through Italy,” a friend enthused when we talked about my upcoming vacation. I presumed she meant in big city restaurants. Or that the food in rural areas would be interesting…
Read MoreWe are not going to Rome or to Venice on this trip. We are eschewing most major tourist sites this month in favor of getting to know our local neighborhood. This decision – not so…
Read MoreWe didn’t make it to church yesterday because of the rain. We did penance today, biking half way to heaven to reach a church on a hill. We’ve been visiting all the churches in this…
Read MoreThis blog is a re-post from May 13. If these windows could talk As we strolled the narrow streets of the walled city of Lucca today, my attention was drawn most often to the windows.…
Read MoreSooner or later it was going to rain. Sooner or later we needed to do the laundry. These two rare events both happened on the same day. Today. Since we arrived in Italy a week…
Read More‘Be sure to stop and smell the roses’ is a cliché. If an author uses the line, readers may feel the writing is trite, that the author took the easy route instead of working for…
Read MoreMy internal compass is all out of whack. As a Midwestern farm girl, I’m used to having a clear sense of north, south, east and west. If the sun is shining in Iowa, I know…
Read MoreMassa Macinaia, Italy, is no different than Preston, Iowa – at least in one respect. People notice newcomers. Who are they? What are they doing here? How long will they stay? Mary and I stick…
Read MoreA maxim of the public relations business is ‘tell your own story or someone else will tell it for you. And you may not like what they say.’ Anyone who has written a memoir has…
Read MoreToday was all about getting to know our Italian neighborhood. Our landlady Cristina gave us a driving tour of our village, Massa Macinaia – pointing out the supermarket, bank, restaurants and a deli famous for…
Read More