In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields

  In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, May, 1915 In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, […]

Welcome to a Wet, Soggy World

Welcome to a Wet, Soggy World

The picture of the mother robin and babies isn’t mine, but it might as well be. The nest is on a brick ledge like mine and the mama and her babies look exactly like the ones here at my house. The babies have hatched! The weeks of sitting on those eggs and keeping them warm […]

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

  Many of us have been experiencing rain, rain, and more rain. And, flooding. Flood records are being broken as creeks and rivers overflow and dams are strained to capacity. What a wet month! A few years ago, when I was writing the fourth Darcy and Flora cozy, Grave Heritage, Tahlequah experienced the wettest July […]

A Home of Sticks

A Home of Sticks

She sits on her little nest of sticks and feathers and this and that. It’s sort of a hodge podge of building materials, but it suits her and it’s home to those tiny blue eggs she warms patiently, day and night. Robins’ nests aren’t known as architectural wonders. And, although they do their best, mama […]

Getting in Touch with an Old Tradition

by blanche manos · leave a comment (edit) Yesterday, my family and I kept up the yearly tradition of putting flowers on the graves of loved ones. Decoration Day is always the same Sunday every May and has been that way for generations. The beautiful little cemetery lies in northeast Oklahoma, surrounded by trees, gentle hills, and a creek […]

Tribal Customs Continue

Tribal Customs Continue

  Routines are nice as long as they don’t become ruts. Routines are not the same as schedules. A schedule seems rather inflexible and fixed, but a routine is a pattern that gives meaning to a day. Routines are more like tribal customs. In the dim, dark ages that many people have never experienced, those days […]