Some serious thoughts today—don’t worry, I’ll throw in a little humor so nobody falls asleep mid-paragraph. I’ve been talking a lot with my grandchildren lately. They’re amazing young adults who, frankly, seem to know more about themselves, their reality, and their dreams than I did at their age. At 22, I was still deciding whether I could give up hairspray and if Hamburger Helper counted as cooking. What makes me proud is that they already
Dear Bear
Category: Logophiles
Have you ever noticed how the English language is basically drunk? Like, it shows up late, wearing yesterday’s clothes, and just starts making stuff up. I mean, look at the letters e-a-r. Three harmless little letters that we read as the word “ear.” Should be simple, right? Wrong. Just try adding them into other words. I mean, come on! Same three letters, completely different sounds. It’s like English went, “Consistency? Nah. Let’s play Mad Libs
Back-to-Basics
Category: Simplify
Part of our grand “simplify life” experiment has been tackling our eating habits—which, let’s be honest, were often atrocious. We are, after all, the generation that drank the Kool-Aid. Not figuratively. Literally. I mean the neon powder parents stirred into water, supercharged with sugar, and proudly served to us as if it were the nectar of the gods instead of diabetes in a cup. If antifreeze and Jell-O had a baby, that’s what we were
“A” Words
Category: Life Lessons
Rounding the aisle corner at the drugstore the other day, I came upon two employees having a fairly loud, very animated conversation. It went something like this: “I had NO idea. Turns out it was the shrimp!” “I mean…what were his symptoms?” “WELL, HIS FACE GOT REALLY RED—ALMOST PURPLE! THEN HIS BREATHING GOT WEIRD! THEY HAD TO USE ONE OF THOSE EPI-PEN THINGS. IT WAS DEFINITELY APOPLECTIC SHOCK!” At this point, my brain tried to
Ever since the day the construction crew showed up and started carving our driveway out of the hillside, I’ve felt this strange sense of peace. Standing at the bottom of the hill, looking up through the trees, you can just make out a sliver of horizon—usually blue sky with a cloud or two peeking over the ridge like nosy neighbors. What you can’t see is that at the top of the ridge sits our barn,