An Inanimate Conversation

In the grocery store parking lot, on a Monday afternoon, I asked myself the following question: “Am I the only one who talks to inanimate objects?” This came after I told a shopping bag to behave. I was trying to put two plastic bags into one of the many reusable shopping bags I have in the car and it was not cooperating. It’s possible that quietly yelling at the bag out loud finally forced it into submission. There were noRead more

#SoCS: In The Something

In the, in the, in the… I’m not coming up with much for the Stream of Consciousness prompt. In the heat of the night… In the final analysis… In the dead of winter… In the something… Okay, so I suppose I could write about the dead of winter since as of this moment, the temperature is 15F (-9.4C) and the expected high on Monday will be 1F (-17.2C). Yes, it’s cold here in Wisconsin and my plans are to spendRead more

An Isolationist’s Gratitudes

Prior to social distancing at home, I had been keeping a daily gratitude journal. It was birthed in May of 2019 and except for a few weeks where it became a weekly gratitude journal, I’ve kept it up. Now, as my isolationism runs steady, it’s important to continue – to find gratitude for what I have rather than what I do not have. So, I am going to share my top ten thoughts of gratitude from the past month. OrganicRead more

Work, Home and Out There

Welcome to my new temporary normal! For the time being. Parts of it may look like your new temporary normal. With the current state of pandemic affairs, here’s what the past week has been like for this blogger. WORK Oh my word, it has been crazy busy. I have been going to work, but only because ours is a small office (less than 10 people) and I’d rather spreadsheet with two large monitors than squint at a laptop while listeningRead more

Patiently Awaiting Normal

I didn’t go to church today and may not for a few weeks. I don’t plan on going to yoga practice for the next month or two. I will not get on an airplane or spend an afternoon at the mall. I may begin working from home this week, if deemed necessary, and only visit the grocery store for absolute necessities. Social distancing is now a “thing” in the U.S. in order to keep the COVID-19 virus from spreading exponentiallyRead more

Waiting in Line

“Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” ~Joyce Meyer~ Do you have patience while waiting in line? At the grocery store? Buying a concert or theater ticket? Stuck in rush-hour traffic or at the DMV? Ladies…the overly busy restroom? It’s okay if your answer is no, I don’t always have patience either. There are days when I don’t behave well while waiting – participating in the sucking-of-teeth thing, followed by aRead more

Dad’s Grocery Games

This photo came up in my Facebook feed last week. I had to share the love, both on Facebook and here. “The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that ceased supermarket operations in November 2015, after 156 years in business. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and until 1965, the largest U.S. retailer of any kind). A&P was considered an American icon that, accordingRead more

Searching…

“If it had teeth, it would have bit you!” That’s the wisdom mom shared with me on several occasions during my youth. It would come after I had been searching, searching, searching for something…only to find it was mere inches from my nose. I tend to be one of “those people” who is not always observant to her surroundings. And so it was when I walked out of the super-sized grocery store into the super-sized parking lot on a sub-zeroRead more

Breathing in Memories

I’ve desired to do this since early spring. It took me until October to comply, to get in the car and go. Something was pulling me toward home – the home of my birth and early existence. It is the home that I eventually wanted to escape out of small-town boredom. It is the home that I rarely visit, but is within a 35-minute drive. It is the home of special places, friends and family. I had to go andRead more

Parental Admiration

Weekly Photo Challenge: Show us someone or something you admire (and tell us about them, too)! Hands down, I admire my parents the most. Evan and Pauline. They met and and began dating while both were working at the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P grocery store) in the early 1950’s. Evan was a manager and Pauline a bookkeeper. When my father was transferred to a store in the small burg of Waupaca, he decided that my mother should followRead more

Kit Kat Junkie

No, not me. I am the Oreo junkie, remember? It’s mom. She’s the Kit Kat junkie. And it’s my fault. In the past few years, mom’s taste buds have packed their suitcase and gone on vacation. The buds return at times, long enough to savor an adult refreshment or a ham sandwich. For the most part, though, they either betray or stay away. The vacant taste buds make it especially difficult to find a snack or treat that mom can enjoyRead more

Snow Day

Weekly Writing Challenge: Glimmers of a Beginning It’s snowing again. I drive down the six-lane highway, a long serpentine of headlights coming at me, then past me. It’s 4:00 pm. The light snow and late afternoon sky wraps unknown drivers in a blanket of foggy white and the greasy tire tracks in each lane of the highway is bordered by sticky, accumulating snow. Grammaw Bunny (that’s me) is not driving with her usual lead foot, choosing instead to get homeRead more