The Labor Day weekend provides a great holiday for families who still need a few more days vacation. September is when we start counting the days of summer we still have left. September is also the month for Grandparents Day. This past summer, the grandchildren came to vacation at the little home on the prairie. One day I heard the older grandchildren laughing upstairs. They had found grandma's humor box. The youngest grandchild, very active two-year-old, Trevor, keeps everyone challenged. Grandma would rub his back at naptime. When he returned home from vacation, he ordered his dad, "Rub my back!" It is a real joy to receive many warm thoughts from the readers of this column. Recently, someone sent a poem which I will share with you.
Episode 128: Little, Little Home on the Prairie →
It looked more like Christmas in December when family arrived at the "little home on the prairie" for a spring retreat. The huge snowdrifts had not completely melted, but spring was in the air and in the footsteps of my grandchildren as they helped those snowdrifts to melt, hear the birds sing, and put up the birdhouses. They also had the joy of helping grandma's spring house clean that "little home on the prairie." It was Christmas in the spring of the year as the large Christmas tree was lit at the top of the stairs. Christmas is every day and a very special day when family and visitors come. Grandchildren know there will be a small gift under the tree, and how special to enjoy that cup of Christmas tea.
Episode 126: Time to Clutter-Bust →
The other day as I observed the creative clutter on my desk and in my life, I decided that I better get the clutter-busting going. Suddenly I became energized to get rid of any cabin fever I had and begin some spring house cleaning activities. After a week of spring weather in February, I realized that the calendar does not lie. It still is winter for a few more days. This brings memories for me of the spring house cleaning time years ago, and how extensive we went into going into all those expedient tasks. I am still able to recall the years when this spring house cleaning was a major enterprise. One would begin in January to clean closets drawers and kitchen cupboards. And we managed to declutter our home and prepare for the major spring cleaning. Since I failed these tasks in January, I knew I would have to develop a battle plan.
Episode 90: Flowers Paint the Laughing Soil →
It was Palm Sunday evening and I was returning from a trip to Nebraska over the weekend. Many warm thoughts flooded my mind as I traveled along and reflected on the joyful events with family and friends. Suddenly, as I came to South Dakota, a winter storm greeted me, and I realized that the remainder of my journey I would encounter ice, snow, wind, and large snowdrifts before reaching my destination. What a warm feeling to arrive safely in a warm home, realizing that there must have been an angel guiding my pathway back home to the little home on the prairie. The storm continued for a few days and one realizes that we do not always stroll through pleasant valleys. As I realize this over a cup of tea, I thought about the many travelers who go to the Holy Land at this time of the year to travel that road to Calvary and also see the empty tomb in the garden. Pilgrims throughout the world, make their pilgrimage to the Holy Land at this time of year to worship at the many sacred sites. Perhaps uppermost in our hearts and minds with those travelers, is the fervent desire that peace may prevail throughout the world.
Episode 89: Heartland Surprises →
Throughout the years, the last week of March has brought to the heartland some surprises weather wise. This year, 1995 was no exception. Rain, blowing winds, and blankets of snow covered many areas of the heartland country. It was two years ago, the last Sunday afternoon in March that I wrote my first Warm Thoughts column. Early that morning flakes of snow covered the roads and prairie country. As a descendant of pioneers, I never dreamed the church would be canceled that morning, but I was mistaken, and appeared in church, as the lone parishioner. A first experience in my life. That afternoon in the solitude of that little home on the prairie, and over a cup of tea, I wrote my first Warm Thoughts column. Yes, I feel like celebrating, as I now share with you a few thoughts from that column. As I write these lines, I am also listening to my grandchildren who are here on their spring retreat from their studies in Colorado. In that first column, I stress how important it is to listen to the children. Reading to the children, and listening to them, can teach us many things. We learn so much from them and their needs are so great to have us really listen to them. I will never forget when I was reading to my grandson, a book about the tree houses and squirrels, and he interrupted me and said, "I don't want to dream about squirrels." And what would you like to dream about? "My grandma," he replied. What a warm and precious thought!
Episode 88: The Heart of Spring →
Happy Easter! Easter and Spring have arrived. As I write these warm thoughts, it is the week before Easter, and there are still some mountains of snow surrounding the little home on the prairie. My grandson, Trevor, who lives in Nebraska and who's spending some special vacation days with his grandma in South Dakota, is overjoyed to make an Easter snowman! Is spring really here in South Dakota?
Episode 70: Skipping Kindergarten →
Now that you know about that humor box that needs a filing system, you may just be a little curious what gems of thought are in that box. I have always been blessed whenever I listen to the children. Consequently, I file away their thoughts in my treasure thoughts, along with that bit of humor that adds zest in my day.
I remember reading this poem, years ago.
Between the dark, and the daylight. When the night is beginning to lower, come the pause and the day's occupation. That is known as the children's hour. Amazing as it may seem, some of the greatest creative thoughts come to the children in the evening hour, and we may think that we are too tired.
Episode 67: A Mouse in the House →
"Grandma, I want to go to the farm!" This had been an earnest plea of my two year old granddaughter, each time I would visit her in her home in Vermillion. So this past weekend, it was her special time to spend at the farm and I was getting myself ready for sharpening my communication - listening skills. With great anticipation, Trina looked forward to her retreat on the farm. As we traveled along by highway, she often asked, "When will we be there?"
Episode 62: Living on the Farm →
It is fun to live on a farm and to live in the little home on the prairie. Some days I feel like one of the pioneers who homesteaded on the prairie. After all, I told myself that I am one of the last of the pioneers with the, "good old pioneer spirit." Yes, I sometimes feel like I live between the old ways of Midwestern culture and the new world of technology.