Grandma's Gleanings
Words and Thoughts from Grandma
Summers of my youth stand in stark contrast to what summer entails for today’s young ones. We had no video games, cell phones, computers, tablets, or even color televisions. When we popped out of bed early on those long days of summer, we were left to our own devices and creativity, and on most days, that involved …
The putting together of light, or photosynthesis, is a wondrous process! Leaves are nature’s food factories, taking in water and nutrients via the tree’s root system, absorbing a gas called carbon dioxide from the air, adding in sunshine and the chemical chlorophyll, and through a wonder of creation far beyond my comprehension, produces oxygen …
The warning was on all of the local news channels throughout the evening: Extreme heat wave, use caution while engaging in outdoor activities, high humidity levels, dangerous conditions for the elderly and young children, cooling centers are being opened for those lacking air conditioning. I’m amazed at what can trigger my memory banks to instantly travel back in time, …
I was at my usual post in the hallway located outside the boy’s bedroom. Oh, how I dreaded these moments, days when I had warned a child, repeatedly, on the consequences of a particular behavior, but my plea went unheeded and the behavior continued. Willful disobedience ruled the day and now the fallout was at hand. …
He was young, beloved of his father, a dreamer of dreams. His mission was a simple one, seek out his older brothers who were out tending the family flocks in Shechem, check on their well-being, and report back to Dad. Little did this teenager know that his faith and integrity were about to be …
Our bodies can be ravaged by disease in a relatively short amount of time. One microscopic virus gains access to the body. We may inhale it, or it may enter our body as the result of a bite, through an open wound, or via our digestive system. That virus invades a neighboring healthy cell by injecting its …
Our property line is edged by a cement block wall, separating our lawn and the neighbor’s driveway. Soon after we moved into our home, that three-foot-high wall collapsed into a heap onto our neighbor’s driveway. A crew was immediately sought out to repair and to rebuild that retaining wall. The job was long, tedious, and expensive, …
As a thank you to my blog followers, and in honor of National Pumpkin Day on Saturday, October 26, we will be giving away a $15.00 Dunkin Donut Gift Card on Friday, October 25. You will be able to enjoy a cinnamon sugar pumpkin signature latte, some apple cider donuts (my personal favorite), a pumpkin donut, …
It’s midnight. The family is settled, the animals are bedded, the work of the day, completed. Then an unexpected knock on the door disturbs the stillness and quiet of the night. Wake up, friend, please, wake up! I have guests and nothing to offer them, I need to borrow some food. Help me, please! The …
It was grueling, painstaking work, but the future use of my arm depended on what I could accomplish in this gym. After extensive rotator cuff surgery and weeks of enduring immobilization in a sling, muscular atrophy had sapped all the strength from that injured arm. Toning and rebuilding those sleeping muscles would be painfully slow, …
Oh, how I remember that embarrassing moment! It is, unfortunately, etched in my memory forever. My research had been extensive and my oral report was completed well in advance of the due date, giving this hyper-student ample time for any last-minute fine tuning. So why was the room giggling? Was my hair in disarray? Was there something afoot …
Our children anticipated this event every summer, and so did I. One week during summer vacation, we would stuff the old pickup truck with tents, sleeping bags, back packs, munchies, fishing gear, and cooking utensils, all in preparation for the annual Cooper’s Lake “Dad-takes-all-the-kids-camping-while-Mom–relaxes-at home” event. Out in that wooded setting, perched along the side of …
We have endured an incredibly wet spell here in the hills of Pennsylvania, one might say that we have experienced our own personal monsoon season. Our neighborhood is laced with streams and creeks, winding their way peacefully through the rural landscape like ribbons curled around a gift. But recently, those peaceful streams have morphed …
Regardless of my best efforts to improve, I have never been gifted with athletic abilities, and as a result, high school gym class was generally a disaster, a forty-five minute exercise in futility. Whether it was swimming, gymnastics, track, or square dancing, my talents and skills were sadly lacking. But then we were offered …
Three times he implored, waiting for the desired answer. Please make this go away, I can’t handle it anymore, my life would be so much more effective and easier if You would just say yes! These are not the rantings of an impatient child trying to sway a reluctant parent, but the sincere prayer of …