It’s Thursday, and I have an old family portrait to share. This is my great, great aunt, just off the boat from Italy. No, actually, it is not. I lied. This is an old picture, but not quite that old. This is me, outfitted as one of my own ancestors! It was taken many yearsContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Ancestral Portrait”
Category Archives: Family
Camp NaNo Progress: Month’s End
Last week, I finally acknowledged to myself that there was no way I’d be able to meet my goal of 20,000 words written on the novel during July 2021, and I reluctantly revised my goal to 15,000. Last night, with an hour and forty-five minutes left in the month, I achieved that revised goal. AsContinue reading “Camp NaNo Progress: Month’s End”
Who Turned Out the Lights?
I was sitting at my laptop when something began rumbling outside. At first I thought it was an airplane. But it continued too long for that. Then it stopped. And started again. It took me a minute to realize that I was hearing some particularly epic thunder, though it didn’t look like rain outside. WithinContinue reading “Who Turned Out the Lights?”
International Chess Day
It’s July 20, also known as International Chess Day! I played a bit of chess back in when I was a kid, but haven’t played since high school. I was only OK at it. My son, on the other hand, has a real talent for the game. He was a US Chess Federation-rated player whenContinue reading “International Chess Day”
Friday Five: Over the Summer Hill
What sign marks the end of the summer for you? It used to be Labor Day, because my son always started back to school the next day. Now that he’s in college, he’ll start earlier, so I guess it’s the now the third week of August that marks the end of the season in myContinue reading “Friday Five: Over the Summer Hill”
Island Adventure: the Kindness of Strangers
Last week we visited Tangier Island, Virginia, in the Chesapeake Bay. I’ll write another post about our time on the island once I have my photos uploaded. But right now, I want to write about car trouble. The plan was for my mother to drive up to our house last Tuesday morning. That afternoon, weContinue reading “Island Adventure: the Kindness of Strangers”
Back to the Mainland
We are home! We left town Wednesday, way later than planned, and spent the weekend on an island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. In the past four days we faced a tropical storm, car trouble, shuttered restaurants, speeding golf carts, really bad wifi and cell service, and a deplorable lack of vegetables. WeContinue reading “Back to the Mainland”
Throwback Thursday: Ransom Fire
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, I present a photo I found online, of a fire in May 1947 at a Pennsylvania state institution for the indigent. (It was also an asylum for the mentally ill at some point in its history.) I did not choose this photo at random. In fact, finding it really blewContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Ransom Fire”
Screentime for Teens
I wrote this one yesterday and forgot to post it then. My son’s girlfriend is here, and they’re playing video games. They do that together a lot — that, and watch television. On one hand, they seem to spend way too much time staring at screens, which feels to me like a bad thing. OnContinue reading “Screentime for Teens”
Throwback Thursday: Foamhenge
I just came across this old photo of my son, taken in 2007 when he was five years old. You can see the mysterious ancient standing stones of Stonehenge behind him…. No, not really. I took this photo in Natural Bridge, Virginia. The Stonehenge you see is actually made of Styrofoam. So, inevitably, it isContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Foamhenge”
