Most English-speaking people are familiar with the idiom good grief. If nowhere else, you may remember it as Charlie Brown’s regular lament in the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schultz. In this context, good grief is an expression of dismay, surprise or relief...

Ah, the heartening effects of pleasant springtime weather! It makes me want to go OUTSIDE. A lot. This spring I have an excellent reason to get out of the house and into the back yard. We moved to Walla Walla mid-May, 2018; now is the first time I’ll be able to get a...

Last week I wrote about March, specifically the Ides of March. It wasn’t my happiest blog on record. This week of March has been much more enjoyable, including the First Day of Spring and that magical point in time, the Vernal Equinox (2:38 PM Pacific) on Wednesday,...

For the twenty-fifth year in a row it’s that week again- -mid-March- -or, as it is known in my immediate family, the week that everybody died.   Not all in the same year, mind you. Dad went first, March 13, 1994. How can that be, when I can still see and hear him...

Ever have one of those days when you wake up resolved to do everything you’re supposed to do and then, sometime in the morning after two cups of coffee, a workout, breakfast and various social media chores, you find yourself saying, “Nah. I don’t wanna.”? Yesterday...

Greetings from Walla Walla, WA, the alleged “Banana Belt” of Eastern Washington. Known for its mild winters (hah!) Walla Walla is, at present, experiencing a month-long snow siege. Thank goodness February is a short month.   If you’re like me, you’re an absolute...