John and Jackie have living room furniture. They bought their house two and a half years ago and, since then, the living room has been empty – kind of a catch all for anything they brought in the house until they figured out to do with it. The main furniture item in the living room …
From August 2015
The Mighty Ash
When my parents built their house in 1964 it had no landscaping. Soon after it was finished they planted four trees: a honey locust and pin oak in the front yard and a maple and ash in the back yard. Those four trees have grown up and up over the years and provided beautiful shade …
Butler Ohio
While we are in Ohio we have been spending a lot of time in Butler, Ohio. Butler is not a famous town or a large town – it only has 930 people. The town is named after General William Butler, a Mexican War hero, although I couldn’t find any evidence he was from Butler or …
Knitting on the Road
When I was working, I always had a knitting project close at hand. At the end of a long, stressful day, I loved to watch television and knit for relaxation. I also knit at interminable clergy meetings and in hospital waiting rooms. I was surprised, then, when my knitting production slowed down in retirement. I …
Ye Olde Mill in Utica Ohio
Recently, while on one of our field trips with my parents, we stopped for supper at Ye Olde Mill in Utica, Ohio. Utica is a small town with about 2,000 residents and is home to the Velvet Ice Cream Factory. In fact, Ye Olde Mill is located on the grounds of the Velvet Ice Cream …
What Question Would You Ask Jesus?
If you could meet Jesus face to face, what one question would you ask? Yesterday Tom and I worshiped at Linworth United Methodist Church with John and Jackie and about 400 other people. The church was packed. Despite two new pastors, a worship time change, and the end-of-summer low attendance disease that afflicts many churches, …
Signs Along the Way
Everywhere we go we see signs. Some signs are really helpful, giving good instructions or directions. Some signs are confusing – were we supposed to turn at that right or the next one? Some signs help us stay safe while some seem to tempt us to danger. So today, instead of writing lots of words …
No Plot? No Problem!
I recently read the book “No Plot? No Problem!” by Chris Baty. I have started writing novels a dozen times, only to have my progress interrupted by life or lack of enthusiasm for the story. “No Plot? No Problem!” gives guidelines and motivation for writing a novel in 30 days. One month from title to …
Hocking Hills State Park
While Tom and I were exploring Conkle’s Hollow, the Grand Canyon of Ohio, we also checked out some of the other parts of Hocking Hills State Park. We had been to Hocking Hills several times before, but it had been almost 20 years since we were there last. Hocking Hills State Park has changed in …
Grand Canyon of Ohio: Conkle’s Hollow
There is no “official” Grand Canyon of Ohio. As Tom and I were researching the “grand canyon of Ohio” we found four candidates, so we decided that we couldn’t name a Grand Canyon of Ohio until we had seen all of them. The candidates were Blackhand Gorge which we saw last summer, Gorge Metro Park …