In my mind, the term “dust bowl” no longer creates images of the Oklahoma drought of the 1930’s, described by John Steinbeck in the book Grapes of Wrath. Now, it describes my current work week.
After 40+ years in business I had my first ever mandatory evacuation by the Little Rock Fire Department.
It was late morning on Tuesday when everyone in our conference room started smelling gas. Before long, we were all standing in the hall wondering, “Where is that coming from?” and claiming it’s worse in our room than anyone else’s.
How do we come back? Or even, do we come back? And, if we do, when and how do we come back?
After a two-year hiatus that started with the first Covid outbreak, these are the questions that the Friends of Dreamland (FOD) had to ask themselves. And the answers are, respectively: Yes, Yes, February 12th, and with a safe fundraiser called Dancing Into Dreamland (DID).
Have you heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking?” I only recently heard it and, when I did, it rang true.
My son, who posts my blogs to the web, often criticizes my rambling way of writing. I don’t care because it is authentic and I remind him of all the criticism Hemmingway got for his writing style, while he was alive. But, in this blog, I may have to agree a little. But hang on; the self-help tip is worth the read. Here we go:
From every UIYB guest interview, I learn something. This past week’s show was no exception and what I learned I put to good use.
Driving to work one crisp morning, I saw a home whose front yard had been rolled. Though I know, from experience, it is a mess to clean up, I still found it endearing. The graceful flowing of the toilet paper blowing in the wind caused me to circle the block and stop to watch it.
Call me a tree-hugger, and you would be right. Last week I lopped off a branch from my 50-year-old elm tree and took it to the Pulaski County Cooperative Extension office. A few years back, I noticed spots on Ms. Elm’s leaves and wanted to find out how to treat it.
You may think this is weird, or awkward, but it wasn’t. This summer my husband Grady, son Matt, and his bride, Sara, vacationed in Colorado, where we stayed with my ex-husband, Ron, the father of my only girl-child, Meghan.
When traveling, I like to catch up on movies in my hotel room. The Ruth Bader Ginsberg movie, On the Basis of Sex, is a walk down history lane and should possibly be required-watching for all Americans. It is easy, when reciting a gratitude list, to omit and take for granted today’s equality for both men and women. It was a mere 40 years ago that men were not recognized in a court of law as care givers and therefore disqualified from tax relief and other compensations like women. Likewise, women weren’t recognized as head of household, thus unable to apply for credit cards or a mortgage without a husband’s signature.


