Musings
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Sunday Snippet: The Autumn at the Lake Edition
Autumn is my favorite time of the year, even though I’m often restless and sad in the fall. It’s an ending in so many ways, and yet there is that feeling of joyful beginning that comes with Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season, even when the world is suddenly a scarier and more uncertain place. Fall is sweatshirts and jeans and corduroy jackets and yoga pants and maybe even scarves now and then, but not yet heavy winter coats and gloves and hats. It’s walks in the neighborhood that leave you feeling smugly exercised, but not particularly sweaty. It’s trips to the orchard for apples and cider and…
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Sunday Snippet: The Reflections on Aging Edition
I turned 72 on Friday. 72. It is a number I never expected to see because when my mom died suddenly of a massive heart attack at the tender age of 60, I became convinced that I would follow in her footsteps. After all, I’m a lot like my mom in other ways. When I passed 60 … and continued on for another almost ten years, I was always kind of surprised that the next birthday happened. Surprised and oh, so very grateful. In December of 2022 when I was diagnosed with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) at the age of 69, I was pretty sure that I…
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Sunday Snippet: The Imprinting Edition (A Peek into the Writerly Mind)
So many authors I know often talk about how much they love to write and how it seems as though every situation–good or bad–gets filtered through their inner writer. That’s so true. I’m wondering right now if it is a bad thing that even when I am in the midst of chaos and crisis, sickness and grief the writer is still creating–inventing scenes, conversations, and scenarios. I’ve thought it about it a lot as we’ve been in such crisis in our country, and I’ve been trying to decide if it’s something to feel guilty about or not. I think it’s not. It’s never a bad thing when our gift kicks…
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Sunday Snippet: The Canal Boat Edition
Husband and I are on a new kick–canal boats and narrow boating. No, we’re not doing it (although I’ve added it to my bucket list!), but we’re totally hooked on watching shows about canals and narrow boats on Prime. We started with Great Canal Journeys, which we found while wandering around on Prime one night. Two episodes and we were enthralled. Timothy West and Prunella Scales were darling together. To watch two people in their late seventies and eighties, married 60 years, travel the canals of Great Britain together is just delightful. (If you’re an All Creatures Great and Small on PBS fan, you’ll recognize Samuel West when he shows up…
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Sunday Snippet: The What Makes Me Interesting? Edition
Several years ago, I did an interview on another author’s blog—in the hot seat myself after all the interviews I’ve asked my guest authors to do. I had a good time answering the questions, and they were great questions, ones that really made you stop to think. One that particularly intrigued me was this: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would it be called? Hmmmm… that was a tough question because I had to start with the whole concept that someone would be interested enough to want to write a book about me. I can probably count on the fingers on one hand—maybe just using only three…
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Sunday Snippet: The August Memos Edition
Hiya, kids! It’s memo time again. (This happens when I can’t think of anything to write, even though I printed out a list of 49 topics that I got in an email from Nancy Light at N.N. Light’s Book Heaven. They are wonderful ideas and I will probably use them–I do this every week, after all. But today… today you get the memos. ~*~*~*~ Dear Covid, You suck. That is all. Tiredly, Nan ~*~*~*~ Dear Weather, I know it’s summer in the Midwest and all bets are pretty much off temperature-wise, but seriously? We could use some relief from the heat. Buck up, now, and don’t let climate change (I…
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Sunday Snippet: The Father’s Day 2025 Edition
For many years, Father’s day was an…uncomfortable holiday for me. My dad left our family when I was 6 years old, and was never really in my childhood, except for the occasional times when we went to where he worked to pick up the few dollars he was willing to give us. He rarely paid support, and my mom worked her tail off going to school full time to get her nursing degree in addition to being a cashier at a grocery store to keep food on the table. I honestly don’t know how she did it. The woman didn’t sleep for over two years. Mother’s Day was huge for…
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Sunday Snippet: The Lake Life Reality Edition
We are in our 14th year here at the lake. It’s hard to believe we’ve had our cottage for so long, particularly given that we waited for so long to buy one. It seemed like whenever we were ready to buy, cottages were just out of our reach and when they were in our reach, we weren’t in a position to consider buying one. Fourteen years ago, when this marriage-long dream came true, we were overjoyed. We still are, although the realities of lake life are a little different from the fantasies. This is a rehash of the harsh realities of lake life, but I’m doing it again anyway because…
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Sunday Snippet: The Let Freedom Ring Edition
It’s a holiday weekend–which means a three-day weekend for a lot of folks. We’re at the lake and although this is sort of the official start of summer, the park isn’t hopping like it usually is every year at this time. Oh, it’s busy. Folks are here opening up their cottages and getting boats in the water, but somehow it seems more subdued. Even the amusement park, which has been a part of the lake community since 1928 isn’t as crowded as usual (that’s according to Son, who took his family there yesterday. I avoid the amusement park except to go by it in the boat when we’re cruising the…
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Sunday Snippet: The Ode to Mom Edition
It’s Mother’s Day–a day that always gives me a lump in my throat as I remember my mom. Not this year, but about every seven years, Mom’s birthday (May 13) lands on Mother’s Day, which makes the day even more bittersweet with memories of her reading aloud to us on camping trips and her humor and intelligence and sense of fun. It also reminds me of the numerous times she and I crossed swords because we were both so set in our thinking–I hope I’ve outgrown that. I’m so grateful for the ten days I got to spend with her in CA six months before she died. Those days, over 37…