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.
How can integrating America’s art and racial history tell a broader and more accurate story of our country than we commonly see? A remarkable exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum encouraged me to see it can be…
Read More
“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” – Lena Dunham After reading my post on struggling to read and write, my friend Jean Balser shared…
Read More
A country’s culture is embodied in its food and how the people eat. Nowhere was that more evident than on my recent trip to Greece. When my friend Mary and I planned our trip, we…
Read More
I realize asking, “Did you miss me?” after such a long absence opens me to the possibility of all sorts of disappointing, maybe even disparaging, responses. All of which I’d deserve. I dropped out of…
Read More
Choosing a word of the year is popular. The Oxford Dictionaries chose ‘post-truth’ as their word in 2016, while Merriam-Webster settled on ‘surreal,’ and Dictionary.com tapped ‘xenophobia.’ All good choices given the year’s events. A…
Read More
My mother had a tradition. Whenever we visited, when it came time to leave, Mom put together food for us to take along for the drive. It didn’t matter if we’d just eaten and the…
Read MoreThe National Park Service marks 100 years this week. One hundred years of preserving our amazing natural resources. One hundred years of educating people on our great outdoors. One hundred years of giving joy to…
Read MoreInternational travel can be a challenge, especially if you don’t speak the local language or do so minimally. One of the advantages to traveling to Ireland is that they speak English, right? Yes and no.…
Read MoreMurals as a form of political, social, and cultural expression rose in importance during “The Troubles” – a 30-year conflict that began in 1968 and divided Northern Ireland. Though The Troubles more or less ended…
Read MoreMy recent trip to Ireland has me thinking again about the importance of place to a writer. Ireland has a rich written history, including literary greats James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and W.B. Yates. Those names…
Read More