All Purls. No Swine.
My mother-in-law, Geraldine Zbozny, died fifteen years ago today. Here's a reprise of a post I've published annually for the past few years: It’s been fifteen years since my mother-in-law passed away, and perhaps it’s time to tell a bit of her story. Geraldine Virginia was born on May 13, 1918. She’d have been 104… Continue reading A Mother-In-Law For the Ages
“I have to be seen to be believed”–Queen Elizabeth II The only British monarch of my lifetime died today. She was crowned in June 1953, slightly more than a year before I was born. I was named after her, “Elizabeth,” and–for my middle name–after my grandmother who was to die when I was only a… Continue reading We Saw Her. We Believed. And Now She’s Gone.
Thus spoke President Harry Truman of Ernest Taylor Pyle. Ernie Pyle was born 122 years ago today, on August 3, 1900 in Dana, Indiana. He died not quite 45 years later, on April 18, 1945, in the Iejima Okinawa Prefecture of the Empire of Japan, killed in action while doing what he loved. Having missed… Continue reading “He deserves the gratitude of all of his countrymen”
Please forgive me. This is, largely, a re-post from many years ago, in the Ricochet group writing category “heroes.” I’ve changed it a bit. But the sentiment’s the same. I offer it today on what would have been my mother's 94th birthday: A few weeks ago, when I signed up for this post, I’d never… Continue reading Mother’s Day Hero: My Mum
A bit less that four months ago, on February 12, 2022 (17+ weeks ago), I ordered some bathroom fixtures from the California Faucet Company with the understanding that the turnaround time to delivery would be somewhere between four and six weeks. They're supposed to be top-tier, made-in-the-USA, products which are available--sensitively--to those working on home… Continue reading Hello–California Faucet Company–I’m Still Waiting
Well, there's the Wayne Newton original, which probably should come with a trigger warning, if only because of his execrable German pronunciation: https://youtu.be/0m_giioppT4 And then there's the karaoke music. You're welcome to sing along with my revised lyrics: https://youtu.be/DNL6I-NMhTw Schadenfreude, darling, schadenfreude I find myself feeling overjoyed. Blogging site, on the Internet Was the place… Continue reading The Joys of Schadenfreude
On this April 16, 2022, a day that would have been my grandmother Molly's 124th birthday, I bring back a post originally published five years ago today, on Ricochet. Nothing's changed. My grandmother Molly could be a rather stern old lady. She was born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, on April 16,… Continue reading On Granny. Oh, and On Chocolate, Too. And a Few Other Things As Well
Oh, to be in England, Now that April’s there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England – now!! Perhaps it’s the fact that I'm still leery of… Continue reading Thoughts of Abroad, From Home
“Hank the Tank,” the 500lb black bear and scourge of Tahoe California, has been cleared (through DNA evidence no less) of many of the burglaries he’s been accused of committing over the past several weeks. It appears that there are at least two more bears who are culpable, and who haven’t yet been named. (One… Continue reading Bears Lives Matter: #IStandWithHankTheTank
Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head--Esther Lederer Yes, it's true. The phrase "living rent-free in [someone's] head" was coined, not by the late Rush Limbaugh--who probably did more to popularize it over the past two decades than any single individual--but by a petite Jewish woman born in Sioux… Continue reading On Resentment and Rental Space