June Bugs and Fireflies

June Bugs and Fireflies

Are you a June Bug? If you’re one of those lucky people born this month, you’ve got a lot of good things going for you. First, there’s your birthstone–you have two of them! The pearl and the Alexandrite are yours. Flowers? Also two–the rose and the honeysuckle. So, you’re bright and shiny, have infinite value, […]

The Everlasting Catalpa

One night in Oklahoma, several years ago a strong wind came through. Oklahoma’s winds are sometimes memorable and this one was no exception. It wasn’t a twisting, swirling tornado, but a straight, hard wind that blew over a huge catalpa tree that had stood in my parents’ back yard for generations. I believe this flowering […]

Valley Center

Valley Center

Sometimes I think about a little one-room school my brother and I attended in northern Oklahoma– wheat, alfalfa, and cattle country. The school’s name was Valley Center. The teacher was an unmarried woman, Miss Virginia. The school was her life and she lavished time, thought, and attention on it and her thirteen pupils, grades one […]

Among Green, Growing Things

Among Green, Growing Things

Yesterday, I worked in my front flower garden, pulling out tiny maple sprouts, checking to see if any wildflowers are poking through the ground. So far, one lone zinnia. I wonder why more haven’t come up? I planted a lot of heirloom seeds. The squash plant is doing great, blooming, looking healthy. I hope it […]

Meandering Thoughts on Animals

Meandering Thoughts on Animals

It’s fun to notice the behavior of animals and wonder just how much they know. In looking back at a past post, I found this from my neighbor Peg: She was watering a lilac bush and she noticed a hummingbird flying in the spray. Afraid that the force of the water would hurt the fragile […]

The Staying Barn

One spring day many years ago, a farmer decided to build a fine log barn. First, he gathered large stones. He chipped and fitted them together for a firm foundation. The farmer cut many trees, chopped off limbs, and smoothed the trunks. Notch and groove, groove and notch, the logs rose straight and true atop […]