“Stop bouncing around so much,” Jean, a master tennis instructor, had coached me. “Plant those feet when you’re hitting the ball. And relax!” No more acting like a Jack-in-the-box, I tell myself later, when facing my opponents. If my partner…
Yesterday I had the chance to share my latest picture book (virtually) with two bilingual classes in New Jersey. The second graders were enthusiastic, especially when I held up a snakeskin and the shell of a snapping turtle, my storytelling…
My family will celebrate several spring birthdays, and it’s time for me to think about gifts. What makes a gift special? In order to find out, I decide to list gifts that left an impression and examine why they did.…
The year was 1975. I was twenty-one years old, and I’d just gotten my first teaching position as the Title 1 teacher for Wisconsin Dells. With only three days before the start of school, I was about to see my…
I was returning from a Kiwanis meeting at Camp Wawbeek on February 8th. My husband and I had taken separate cars since he wanted to attend a boy scout meeting, and I wanted to return home and type up the…
Ready for a trivia game? Who said the following? “I don’t have no plans of slowing down because the number says I should. I don’t pay attention to that. I wake up with new dreams every day.” Here’s a hint.…
I used to think these common rodents were just, well, bushy-tailed creatures who were good at caching away acorns. But the more I watch and read about them, the more my appreciation grows. My interest in squirrels began years ago…
Last week’s newspaper had an article about the pandemic halting the winter research on Isle Royale. Seeing the name of the Lake Superior island I’d hiked years ago brought back a flood of memories. I’d gone with a group through…
My father was a quiet man, and he wasn’t the type to give long explanations or lecture. Still, just spending time with him taught me important life lessons. One of his classrooms was the frozen fishing lake. Ice fishing is…
Although the comment was made more than twenty years ago, I still remember it. It was midweek, probably a Wednesday or Thursday, and I had just made a comment about longing for the weekend. A coworker, JoAnn Luke, who taught…