I must have been seven or eight when I played my one and only April Fool's trick -- on my dignified, Bostonian father, of all people! It wasn't that he didn't have a sense of humor -- he did. But probably not when the joke was on him. And...
No sooner had I turned on the bedside lamp and checked the time yesterday morning than the power went out! Damn! And I had overslept, too. I'd be hard pressed to get through my long list of "todo's" even without all the amenities... like a...
I'm in the middle of 18th century Scotland -- in the highlands of The Outlander series which I'm reading on my new Kindle to save my eyes from the fine print of the books. It's full of historic accuracy, steamy sex, and violent squinch-my-eyes-up...
When I was a kid and was at the point toward the end of dinner when I was endlessly pushing peas (or beans or brussel sprouts) around on my plate, I was invariably told to "remember all the starving children in Armenia." I can't remember that the...
By the time I entered first grade in 1941, the United States had had thirty-two presidents, many of whom had served more than one term. President Roosevelt, of course, stands out clearly in my mind as does his "day of infamy" speech after the...
Versailles School -- First Grade -- Alameda Calif -- May 1942 it says in Dad's handwriting on the back. My first school picture, or at least the first one I remember. It turned up in an unmarked box with forty years' worth of disparate images. ...
Dear Mrs. LaRue, Do you know the Halloween parade? In this parade can I holed youer hand because Im scared of clowns? From Ruth Looking back is oh! so bittersweet. Not because of what was said, but because of what I can't remember. Did I hold...
On this very date, February 15th, in 1903, the first Teddy bear went on sale. Little did toy store owner and inventor Morris Michtom realize that he was creating a childhood institution. He had asked and received permission from President...
I'm pretty sure I wasn't "a girlie" sort of girl when I was young. I didn't much like playing with dolls. I didn't like playing dress up. It never occurred to me to get into my mother's cosmetics. On the other hand, I don't think I was a tomboy,...
It happens more than I’d like these days. I woke up feeling tired – not refreshed. And we have a lot on our plate today. I thought of Allegra Tasaki, the little mite of a six-year-old who once said after a long field trip day, “When I feel...
Nor do I much care what Rhett was talking about. What I’m talking about are buttercups and this headline I saw recently: “Physicists find out why buttercups make your chin glow yellow.” Who cares, for Heaven’s sake? We all know what it means. ...
The other day at our 160th celebration, when Ronnie Biggs mentioned that he remembered Oysterville’s Red Light District, he got quite a laugh. But, he was serious. I dare say all of us who were kids here in the 1940s and ‘50s remember it. But...