"As soon as the birds flew out, the phone started working again," said Mom this morning. "No one will believe me if I tell them our phone call got cut off because of the birds."' "Everyone will think we're cuckoo if we say our phone and internet isn't working because the birds are building a nest again," I agreed. This, however, is absolutely the truth. The phone box that houses the wires that lead to our house and tether us to the outside world via phone and internet has become the … [Read more...] about A Home for Birds, Bats, and Skunks?
Family
Why We Had Potato Soup For Supper
Grocery stores are rationing milk; farmers are dumping milk into their manure pits. Welcome, April 2020. Since I last wrote a blog post, Lancaster County and the whole state of Pennsylvania was put under a stay-at-home order. Since I haven't been going anywhere besides work, this hasn't changed much for me, except it feels more serious now. Especially since the stay-home order is in place until the end of April. On Sunday afternoon, I went on a long walk and took pictures of local … [Read more...] about Why We Had Potato Soup For Supper
Penny Letter From a Lockdown Zone
"A natural disaster would be interesting to see," I once told some family members. "Not people dying or anything like that. I just think it would be fascinating to witness a devastating natural event of some kind. Don't you think so?" "No!" My family members were aghast. "That's crazy! Why would you want to see something like that?" "Oh." Apparently, not everyone daydreams about riding a boat down the street, or standing in a doorway during an earthquake and seeing if that really is … [Read more...] about Penny Letter From a Lockdown Zone
Reprint: A Visit to the Umsiedler People
For my post this week, I decided to share an article I wrote in 2015 about a visit to Germany. I went there to attend the wedding of a friend, and learned about a church group with an interesting history. This article was published in 2015 in a magazine titled the Anabaptist Forum (reprinted with permission). It's written with history lovers in mind. If I was writing it again today, I might change a few things, but I decided simply to republish the original and insert some photos. A … [Read more...] about Reprint: A Visit to the Umsiedler People
Police Bullhorns at 3:30 a.m. and Coronavirus Panic
This morning I awoke to the sound of a police bullhorn blaring over the neighborhood. "Come downstairs, come out the front door, keep your hands up where I can see them!", boomed the distant echoing voice, interspersed with short blasts of a police siren. Shaking off deep sleep, I crawled out of bed and shoved my glasses on. Down the hall, I could hear my parents stirring. "They've set up roadblocks," said my mom, coming into my room. "I think they're looking for someone!" "Which … [Read more...] about Police Bullhorns at 3:30 a.m. and Coronavirus Panic