Posts by Julia Schmeelk

We stopped by a local pond today to see the egrets. They are such cool, snow-white birds. As we pulled off, they looked up and took off, but I got a few amazing pics before they flew out of sight. Spring brings new birds, insects, frogs, and so much new growth. Mud, of course, bipolar…

All the technin this world and I often feel like I am 100 steps behind the average person, but I slog through, ask questions, Google and research. Today my brother texted me, he got an email with my name saying I was in trouble offering pics. He is a smart man and checked the address,…

If you have read my books, any or them, you might have noticed that I enjoy cooking. I can cook completely by scratch, or I can take all manner of shortcuts. Tonight I made chicken paprika, a family favorite using saurkraut, chicken, mushrooms, peppers, and a cream sauce. It is amazing, and I have played…

As a rule I am useful, productive, I strive to get my stuff done. It doesn’t matter what you call it or what you don’t, but today is not one of those days. I could whine and complain about the weather, allergies, the phase of the moon. I could pull out the end of the…

Today we have a bright blue sky. It has been dreary for a few days so when it emerges, it is always amazing to see. We are seeing that springtime blue, not the lighter winter blue sky nor the midsummer deep, deep blue. In any case, it made me think of the green sky of…

Getting old can mean a lot of different things, but tired and old is dangerous. That’s why when I struggle to stay awake and alert as I am driving home, I find a nice cup of something to help me stay wake. It can be soda, it can be tea, and today it was a…

I recently took my broken tooth to the dentist; it had gotten sensitive to cold, hot, air, basically anything at all it did not like. They took X-rays and gave me two possible plans of action. One was a little over $4000, the other was a little over $500. While the cheaper option was pulling…

As I grow older I enjoy noticing all the changes, and personal, societal, and social expectations that happen with gray hair and a few extra creases and lines on the face. My mother had a lot of grace and dignity, I have much less of that, more creativity and curiosity. All the same, getting older…

I recently had a social exchange with a nice woman who used an expression of respect for me that I was unaccustomed to. She called me Momma. It made me wonder what expressions of respect the dragons might use in their exchanges with one another in different territories. I also see how humans struggle with…

They say you should be writing or doing something worth writing about, well this week I have been doing something worth writing about. For the first time in many years my husband and I went somewhere for fun. We found a good home for the chickens, rooster, and ducks, packed off the dog to my…