A furry orange kitten glares at me from the corner of the live animal trap. He's clearly a toughie, with a lean body and a red scratch next to his eye, probably a scar from fighting one of the other cats that roam our neighborhood. I'm careful to keep my fingers away from him. I call my sister immediately. "Are you at home? Because I have a kitten for Patrick!" My sister Joanne and her husband Lamar and their seven children live some twenty miles north, on a small hobby farm in Berks … [Read more...] about To Catch a Tabby Cat
Three Book Reviews: God’s Hostage; A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War; and My Name is Tani
Lately I've been listening to audio books a lot. There were several I really enjoyed, so I decided to write a review about each of these three books: God's Hostage; A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War; and My Name is Tani. All are non-fiction and published by Christian publishers. Writing about an audio book is trickier than writing about a book when you have a paper copy in your hands. I don't have a quick way to look up details or get quotes from the book. So these will be short reviews, … [Read more...] about Three Book Reviews: God’s Hostage; A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War; and My Name is Tani
Macrame Party: A Classic Craft
Macrame plant hangers— like lacy doilies— linger in their webbed glory year after year in our home. Growing up, I never gave macrame hangers much thought. They were just part of the fixtures, like lamps or windowsills. Certainly I never considered making a plant hanger. That is, until my friend Becky announced she was having a macrame plant hanger party. "It's easy," she promised. "I can get all the supplies, you come to my house, and you can make one in an evening." So last evening, … [Read more...] about Macrame Party: A Classic Craft
Kentucky Pilgrimage
Last winter my friend Amy and I discovered neither of us had ever been to the Creation Museum or the Ark Encounter in Kentucky and we both wanted to go. A few weeks ago, I asked Amy if she was still interested. "Both museums are open again. And we'll probably never again have a summer that's so empty." "Sure," Amy agreed. I also invited my friend Charity to come along. Like Amy, Charity is a schoolteacher, and she also had never been to either museum. So last week, we made the … [Read more...] about Kentucky Pilgrimage
Warning My Past Self about 2020
If you could go back in time and warn yourself about what's happening in 2020, what would you say? In the past couple of months, there's been this Youtube craze of people warning their past selves about everything that's coming. Since I prefer writing to acting, I decided to write a play-style script about the June 2020 Susan warning the December 2019 Susan. Note: Please ignore the time/space contradiction. You've been putting up with worse things than plot holes lately. Setting: my sofa. … [Read more...] about Warning My Past Self about 2020