humor
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Where’s Mom?
When we were little, my siblings and I used to do hide-and-seek with my mother. It wasn’t a game. She was really hiding. And we were seeking. It was a big house–three floors plus a basement–and as we climbed the stairs calling, “Mom! Mooooooooooooommmmmmm!” we were sure that she must have gone down to one Continue reading
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The Ghosts of Vegetables Past
This is not a refrigerator story. It’s a tribute to the dead mutant pumpkin on our front porch … …and a reflection on why white blobs embalmed in red liquid creep me out.The dead mutant is one of three giant pumpkins produced in the garden this year, grown from giant pumpkin seeds. One of them–a white pumpkin– cracked Continue reading
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Embracing the lunatic fringe
I was called a lunatic this weekend and it made me really happy. Why? Because I was in an auditorium filled with other lunatics and it was so nice to have company. We were all lunatics. Language learning loonies who sold out a conference to hear a linguist. Stephen Krashen spoke at the MDTESOL conference. For Continue reading
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What’s in Your Freezer?
Forget the wallet. There’s nothing in there but club cards to stores I frequent. What’s in the freezer is a much more interesting topic. Certain current and former colleagues will recall a Christmas party at our house at which we revealed little freezer bags filled with skinned squirrels, frozen in all their scrawny nakedness. The Continue reading
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Not to the Store Blackberry Sauce
Not a picture of blackberry sauce I almost went to the store yesterday. There is nothing unusual in almost going to the store. Many days I almost go to the store. Many more days I refuse to go to the store. I hate going to the store. Yesterday, however, I had an urge to go Continue reading
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Berries and Bugs
It took a couple of weeks for the Japanese beetles to discover the blueberries. For those couple of weeks I blissfully picked a daily supply of berries, rejoicing in the amazing abundance of them. After three years of waiting, the bushes were loaded with fruit and every day or so just enough of them ripened Continue reading
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Bug
Nothing connects people quite like a stomach bug. First, there’s the line of transmission. Person to person to person. Who gave it to whom? It’s not enough to get the bug. One must know where it came from. Preferably so one knows whom to blame. My recent bug came via a vomit bath from my Continue reading
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The Pedometer Contest
Oh, the tyranny of a tiny purple belt attachment. The health care provider at work was so kind as to give each plan participant a pedometer recently. They also are sponsoring a contest to encourage us to be more active, become more healthy, and thereby cost the plan less to maintain us. I see their Continue reading
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The hot, dry air of winter
This is the winter that will not die. Some people are tired of the cold. It’s March–when the bees are supposed to emerge to pollinate budding red maples– and the weather forecast is still calling for a temperature of ZERO. Some people are sick of the snow. My husband, for example, is outside right now chopping more firewood in anticipation Continue reading
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Plowing through snow days
So it’s Valentine’s Day, but it feels like the movie Ground Hog Day. We keep repeating the same scenario over and over. Another six inches of snow fell on top of yesterday’s 18 inches. The forecast for tonight is for another few inches–and I’m not just talkin’ snow. We’re plowing through more than snow around Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 