A Greener Biener

Once upon a time in an enchanted suburb there lived a family. There was a king.  A queen.  A couple of princesses.  It was quite an ordinary family. They were content; not much happened in their little kingdom. Then one day funny things did start to happen. Funny, unexpected things that were not really the [...]

If we had paid any attention to the check engine light before we left, the car probably wouldn’t have stalled out. Likewise, if Dave had heeded his check appendix light, he wouldn’t still be sitting in that lousy hospital bed and I might not consider vacation to be a four letter word. Every day on [...]

There’s nothing like it. The crisp scent of ammonia in the morning. The precious squeak of white shoes on linoleum. The fluorescent lights and the beeping machines.  Nothing says vacation like the emergency room. And this year, instead of wasting time with pedestrian trappings like sand castles or sailboats we simply unloaded the suitcases and [...]

While I’ve been busy with a bunch of this and a whole lot of that I haven’t had much time to pay attention to what’s going on in my own backyard.  Yes, you’re seeing right.  It’s time for the Aerial Squirrel Olympics. And the garden, while not defying gravity, is worthy of some medals of [...]

We’ve spoken before about my aversion to teeth. I especially deplore this habit they have of being cohesive team players in the mouth one day and walking the plank the next. Warning: this post features a picture of one terribly frightening mug Isn’t it horrible?  The mish-mash of unevenness and drool and bloody gums.  This [...]

My kids have been asking for a pet since they could speak.  Something warm and fuzzy they could cuddle and love. Hello Fluffy Who cares that this adorable critter arrived alongside 30 pounds of his friends to take a spicy steam bath?  If my babies want a pet, then a pet they shall have. At [...]

Do you want to know the best thing about this plastic baggie full of mouse skeletons? It’s not my maternal pride over the obvious CSI skills my daughters’ exhibit. It’s not knowing that our neighborhood owls are eating well, controlling the mouse population, and selecting our pine tree for the repository of their pellets/gifts.  Though [...]

Is what’s good for the goose chicken . . . good for the gander children? These children that I have coddled and cuddled for over ten years? The ones who, yes, have a tendency to fall on their heads but otherwise have demonstrated good judgment and responsibility in spades. Free range these children? These peace-loving, [...]

The question, of course, was the one I posed in a round-about way last week:  How do you protect your sprout-lings from the cold winds that blow? You can plant the seeds. You can nurture the little guys as they poke their heads into the world for the first time. You can shower them with [...]

I’ve been thinking. Thinking about all the blather I spew to parents of newbies about the dreaminess of life on this side of infancy.  About how parenting older kids is a walk in the park where that park doesn’t insist you follow slippery tots in and out of sand piles and up and down ladders [...]