The chill of winter is perfect for certain poetry

The chill of winter is perfect for certain poetry: It is the end of the semester, and time to say farewell to my students. I know I always say this, but this year they were extremely wonderful … friendly, smart, and interesting. We finish our final projects and I tell them to bundle up and meet me in the courtyard behind Taylor Hall. This week has been cold with snow and the beginning of icicles hanging on old buildings and gutters. It is the perfect weather for reading poetry although the students are doubtful. It is not as if it is a surprise; I have told them about this all year so they knew it was coming. “Bundle up,” I say. “Let’s go.” And out we go.

Here is the link to this week's column. As always, thank you for reading and enjoy! Just click on the title or the first line!

Lou Ann

Music is alive, well this holiday season

Music is alive, well this holiday season: Sitting in a shaft of sunlight in Irene’s café is a delightful way to spend the morning.

Irene's Cafe or Caleo Cafe is located on Maumee Street in Angola.

Music is definitely in the air here in my hometown. Just spend a bit of time with us...walking around the mound or in our cafes and you will agree. I heard a rumor that a certain someone with a ukulele will be playing at Caleo next Friday at noon. Hope to see you there.

As always thank you for reading. Just click on the title or the first line for this week's column. See you around town.

Lou Ann

Time sits in a capsule of joy in Waterloo

Time sits in a capsule of joy in Waterloo: I put the kettle on for tea, pack up canned goods, gather together winter paraphernalia and wait for a group of friends to gather at my old house. It is dark and the hour grows late, but we are on a mission to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train in Waterloo as it passes by on this night. One by one, they arrive … Kathy, Jan, Judy, and Mary (the bat girls, if you remember!). We all talk at once and head out to the shiny red Jeep. We toss our canned goods in the back and we are off. It is only a 20-minute drive, which is lucky, as they are all back seat drivers. Too much heat, too little heat, watch out for deer (and, yes, there were several on the side of the road), do not go too fast, do not go too slow. I just laugh and drive.

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

 

 

Or it could be titled, The Night the Train Came Into Town. Here is the column of greeting the beautiful midnight train in Waterloo last week. It was a wonderful experience, and if you weren't there, you can read all about it here!

As always, thank you for reading and enjoy!

Lou Ann

Love helps put together the Thanksgiving table...

Love helps put together the Thanksgiving table: I love knowing on Thanksgiving morning that I am just one of the thousands of cooks up early baking pies, drinking coffee and thinking about the day along with so many other women (and men).

I do so love baking pies!!

 

 

Here is the link to this week's Thanksgiving column. As I post this today, I am getting ready to put apple pies in the oven and go over my list for tomorrow's dinner. I love Thanksgiving so much. I love folks around the table...family, friends, and those who need a place to be.

This week I looked into the lives of three women that have inspired me in many ways in my life...not just homemaking.

I have included an Irish Blessing which I will be saying at our family dinner. Maybe you will want to read it also at your celebration.

Just click on the title or the first line.

 

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Lou Ann

Some stories live on forever...

Some stories live on forever: One of these days I am going to board the Amtrak train at Waterloo and head over to North Platte, Nebraska. I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

Union Pacific Railroad 1940's.

 

 

Here is the link to my Veterans Day column. I hope you enjoy it. Please just click on the link of the title. As always, I appreciate you reading. 

There is a great surprise twist at the end...something I wasn't expecting.

Enjoy it here!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lf2cGIRqVo

Thank you to all the Veterans for taking care of us.

Until next time,

Lou Ann

Home is where we begin our chain of kindness

Home is where we begin our chain of kindness: The walls are still bedecked with spiders and ornaments of Halloween. I never like to take them down or make the change to the next season, at least until I do make the change.

Jacob McNeal reading Shakespeare on the square.

 

 

 

Here is the link to this week's column. Jacob's family suffered a fire on Halloween night, and we are here to help. There is a gofundme page on Facebook. If you can help, that is great. If you just have a kind word for the family, that is also great.

Just click on the title or the first line for the story. As always thank you for reading and for being part of my life.

Lou Ann

Love of the land still lingers in memories

Love of the land still lingers in memories: My homesteading books still fill an entire shelf in my library. The subjects are varied and all point back to the ’70s in regard to Mother Earth … cooking on a woodstove, raising chickens, building a greenhouse, shearing sheep and the list goes on.

My homesteading books!

Here is the link to last week's column...the first frost on the farm. I really hope you enjoy it and that it stirs up some of your own memories. As always, thank you for reading. Just click on the first line or the title.

Happy Harvesting!

Lou Ann 

Stay tuned; Frankenfest is coming some day

Stay tuned; Frankenfest is coming some day: Mary Shelley and “Frankenstein” appear to be the only words spoken in my red Jeep as Carolyn and I cruise down the highway. With dark fingernail polish, black dresses, and even black (so the package said) lipstick, we chat non-stop about the day ahead of us!

Carolyn and I are getting ready for Frankenfest! Note the fingernail polish.

 Here is the link to my Frankenfest column. Carolyn and I had the very best time and hope to bring a Frankenfest to our part of the state!

The laboratory is exactly as they left it in 1968.

I was so fortunate to be one of the readers!

 I hope you enjoy this column as much as I enjoyed the event and writing it. As always thank you for reading and wishing you a great Halloween season!

Lou Annn

How would you like to get your medication here?

 

October brings us many wonderful things...

October brings us many wonderful things: Time is marked by the sliding into October with chrysanthemums blooming, pumpkins ripening and the wind whistling down the chimney. Ah … how lovely.

Full Harvest Moon compliments EarthSky.org.

Tomorrow night is the full Harvest Moon. Here is the link to this week's column which explains the other names and a "mark your calendar" event for the Minstrel Show!

As always, thank you for reading. Just click on the link! Enjoy!

Thank goodness for the Book Fairy...

Thank goodness for the Book Fairy: My bookshelves host an array of books. It is a colorful collection from poetry to history, from childhood books to the one I bought last week. And even though it seems a bit topsy-turvy, I know where to locate each book.

 

 

Shhh....the book fairy has been here!

 

 

Today is National Hide a Book Day by the Book Fairy. I have been busy this morning putting my books in lovely locations in my community. There is a little fairy dust around each book. What a fun day is this!!

 

 

Here is the link to this week's column telling you all about it! It is not too late for YOU to be a book fairy also!

 

As always, thank you for reading and good luck in finding these books!

 

Lou Ann

Forever … when today is a long time ago

Forever … when today is a long time ago: “You are walking in her watercolor painting. You, trees, birds, meadows, wetlands, fens, log buildings, a garter snake so old it’s black. You are a part of her aesthetic, this beauty, her final creative work.”

Helene Swenson's Art Studio

Jason Kissel and Kevin McKelvey         .

Writing about Forever.

Here is the link to last week's column. It was a wonderful party at Wing Haven. Hopefully our poetry will last 200 years.

As always, thank you for reading. Just click on the title or the first line!

Lou Ann

Taking a step back in time

Taking a step back in time: I check the back ribbon of my Minnie Pearl straw hat before leaving the house. I gingerly step into Kathy’s car ducking my head wondering how did women drive with these hats? (Perhaps they didn’t?) I notice we are both wearing summer cotton dresses and sandals. This is not an ordinary outing for a Sunday afternoon. No, we are headed to the Collins Schoolhouse to participate in the fifth annual Ice Cream Social.

The ice cream social at the Collins Schoolhouse.

Could that still be June's hand writing?

Here is the link to this week's column. It was such a lovely day to spend at the Collins Schoolhouse. Maybe you will get to go next year. As always thank you for reading! Lou Ann

One can only imagine what was inside those lunch pails!

July is fitting for traveling dusty Indiana roads

July is fitting for traveling dusty Indiana roads: July finds me crisscrossing Indiana with stories in my pocket and my GPS on the front seat next to me. With one click I can change the course of my driving from super highway to back roads and so why not? I decide to give way to time and enjoy the journey.

Queen Anne's Lace

Here is the link from last week's column. As always, thank you for reading and make sure you take time to explore the back roads before summer is over!

Lou Ann