I can’t believe that it is already August and parents are getting kids ready to back to school. In this crazy world that we are currently living in I can’t imagine what parents with small kids are going through. Return to learn plans are all put in place but there...
I made a blueberry pie this week. I used 6 cups of blueberries. (It’s really awesome and I don’t plan on sharing, so don’t ask.) This time of year is so amazing with all the fresh fruits and vegetables. Because of this and lots of pie and beer I’m attempting...
I was talking to a friend the other day about emotions and how with all the added stress and anxiety during the pandemic all of our emotions are “big” emotions. Everything is felt with such extreme that we don’t just get angry, we get furious. We don’t just get sad,...
Fairly decent chance things won’t be easing back to normal until spring of next year. And, the one event I was looking forward to this fall was cancelled. (… loud, guttural scream …) I was telling someone that I crave the “boring, normal”. “Well, that won’t happen so get over...
My summer book club selection was “An Iowa Baseball Confederacy”* -- a story about a fantastical baseball game between a farm team and the Chicago Cubs in the summer of 1908. The game went on for thousands of innings and involved magic and … it’s hard to explain. At the...
A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were invited to the house of some of our friends for dinner. Also in attendance at the dinner were the parents of the wife of our friends. As we were sitting outside enjoying the weather and catching up, we started discussing the...
We experienced our first quarantine at our house as Shaila tested positive for COVID. We were fortunate to know where she contacted it from and she is old enough that self-isolating was a little easier to accomplish. However, we did embrace masks in our household and if she came out...
My pastor scolded me about 15 years ago for not wearing a bike helmet as I was riding my bike around Clarion. “Steve”, said Pastor Chuck, “you are a leader and therefore an example in Clarion for good behavior and you should be wearing a helmet. You are not sending...
Summer has arrived in Iowa and Mother Nature is making sure we know it is here with the heat and humidity. Another sign of summer and one of my favorites is the first ears of Iowa grown sweetcorn. The other day I traveled to Des Moines and on a street...
I made bacon on Sunday morning. My bacon making includes making a mess. I’m not sure how you don’t make a mess making bacon - I’ll either set off the fire alarm or splatter grease all over. I’ve tried it in the oven and that creates a special mess of...