Christmas activities culminate fun holiday season...

Christmas activities culminate fun holiday season - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Here is the link to this week's column. As always, thank you for reading. I love writing stories for you!

Finding the perfect Christmas tree.

Finding the perfect Christmas tree can always be time consuming. My family and I usually go to Booth's Christmas tree farm and cut down our own trees. However with the trip to Arizona we changed schedules. So Kathy Vaugn and I set out to find our own perfect Christmas trees. We knew we did not want to cut them down ourselves so we hunted all over town.

We finally found our trees at Gary Stroh's apple farm. Gary was right there holding the trees up and helping us find the best one for us. When we did find the best trees, he cut off the bottoms and loaded them into the truck. We felt like pioneer women driving around town with our trees in the truck.

Getting them out of the truck and into the house was a totally different scene. However mine is up and decorated, and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my Small Town.

Lou Ann

Thanksgiving takes us to a sunny locale...

Thanksgiving takes us to a sunny locale - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Just a few hours and my family and I are in Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with Abe and Kristin. Although our Thanksgivings usually last seven days and this one is no different. Enjoy another adventure through my weekly column above.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving as well.

Lou Ann

Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family. This year we are celebrating in Arizona with all the family members flying in. Everything is a new adventure for us.

As we were cooking this afternoon I felt a bit of my actress side coming out. Thanks to Karen and Kristin for putting up with their mother-in-law!

The video is short, but it will give you a laugh as you keep the fires burning.

Bon Appetit!

Haiku for November 22nd.

bold stormy headlines

steel rain falls from pewter skies

on this day we weep

Happy Birthday Norbert Krapf

An interview with Norbert Krapf

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite Indiana poets, Norbert Krapf. I met Mr. Krapf at a book signing several years ago when he was the Poet Laureate for Indiana (2008-2010).

He is Emeritus Professor of English at Long Island University and is the author of 24 books. One of my favorites is "Songs in Sepia and Black & White."

In the above book Mr. Krapf reunites poetry with music and photography. Fifteen of the poems are dedicated to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, John Lennon and Leadbelly.

I shared the above video with my composition classes today. They enjoyed the rhythm of the poems and the interview as well.

You may order books through Indiana University Press.

Happy Birthday!

First snow of winter...

First snow of winter...

The first snow of winter covered the land in northern Indiana last night. It was a beautiful evening with snowflakes the size of silver dollars. No one expected it would stick as the ground is still warm from the summer's sun, but it did!

I often post this view of my garden. I like the changes from early spring rains to the deepest blooms of summer to the first snow. 

The changing of the seasons allow us to think and contemplate the changes within our own lives. Winter brings us time to be quiet and listen.