Dear kind people working on the neighboring building

The work you’re doing — cleaning the windows and painting the trim — looks fantastic. But 7 a.m. is entirely too early for the beep, beep, beep of that lift that you’re using to do that work. And day three of that beep, beep, beep is definitely making me a crabby-pants. Thanks, Neighbor who doesn’t… Continue reading Dear kind people working on the neighboring building

Fresh from (mom’s) garden

When I was at my mother’s last weekend (pre-roller coaster ride), we picked and picked and picked and picked green beans. This wasn’t the first time, by any means. I brought home about half of the bounty — snapped, there was one-and-a-half gallon-size Ziploc bags of green beans. That’s a lot of green beans. They’re… Continue reading Fresh from (mom’s) garden

It’s a stretch

I have a superpower. (It is not the ability to drive on water.) I was reminded of this not-often-used super power as I rode the elevator to my floor tonight. I was accompanied by a very tall, very skinny but very dumb (he had a mouthful of chewing tobacco) 20-something on his way to the… Continue reading It’s a stretch

My Fourth of July adventure

The first thing I thought when I stopped was, profoundly, “Huh.” Of course, while hydroplaning across Interstate 70 with no sign of stopping, my first thought was “Oh shit.” Somehow, after a full 360-degree turn, I stopped heading the same direction I’d started in but in the median. The heavy wire barriers in the middle… Continue reading My Fourth of July adventure

Waverly’s treestone may be part of Woodmen fraternal organization’s past

Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to talk to the mayor of Waverly, Mo., about the town’s history and a unique gravestone shaped like a tree stump in the Waverly Cemetery. The treestones, as they are called, are often connected to the Woodmen of the World, a fraternal organization founded June 6, 1890, by… Continue reading Waverly’s treestone may be part of Woodmen fraternal organization’s past