Monthly Archives: July 2020

Dear Reader: My love of reading grew out of my uncertain childhood following my father’s death and my mother’s hand amputation… due to bone cancer. I just remember always hearing adults talk softly around my brothers and me if mother’s … Continue reading →

  Dear Reader: Recently…I was skimming through a short biographical “info” page (on an author) located at the back of the book. It was telling about the author’s hobbies and interests. Then, suddenly, it ended with this observation: “She divides … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: This is the first year I didn’t have two big barrels of morning glories…already climbing fence trellis… that I would buy each spring at Ace Hardware. (But then no one expected COVID either…and not being able to go … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: I decided today that I would do a “mini”  “Petal it Forward” by giving my newest neighbor Mary…some fresh flowers from the garden. She has been working so hard in her yard, she has added on a back … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: An article I was skimming recently contained a fascinating Harvard study that lasted eight decades..until the participants were well into old age… It tracked 200 men for 80 years and, based on their findings, concluded  that what matters … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: Yesterday I was watching a cooking show and the instructors announced that it was World Emoji Day…(Actually the show must have been taped early and then shown early because World Emoji Day is tomorrow…Friday, July 17!) However, since … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: Aren’t there just some scents that linger from our childhoods into our present-day lives… bringing such pleasurable memories with them? One of the saddest side effects for some people, affected with COVID19, is the sudden loss of taste … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: There are some things I consider “sacred” to me… and the post office, my “magnolia” mailbox Mandy painted for me, and the memories of handwritten messages within that box… are all included in that term. Right before I, … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: My son-in-law (John)’s favorite expression is “That’s how we roll.” It usually follows a compliment I have given him about a cook-out he has put on or a surprise…he comes back with “That’s how we roll around here, Boo.” … Continue reading →

  Dear Reader: When Walsh, Mollie, and family were in the mountains last week…they spent one afternoon strolling through the quaint little mountain town of Blowing Rock. It was there that Mollie sent me a video of the Prayer Tree … Continue reading →