The Longest Night

It's dark outside. If I didn't have things to do outdoors and chickens to tend I would ensconce myself in my home without much concern about the lengthening nights, but now I tend the chickens by flashlight morning and evening.  It's cold. It's depressing.  I can't help but notice how short the days have become.

I once heard about a town in Sweden that holds a bonfire every winter to drive away evil spirits. It sounds quaint until one considers that the evil spirits might have names like "Vitamin D Deficiency", "Claustrophobia" and "Cabin Fever." That quaint fire may have a practical purpose of getting us out of our stuffy homes and talking to our neighbors. It makes sense that we need festive holidays at this time of year. Lights and parties and traditional outings entertain us. Cooking and shopping and decorating distract us until finally the days begin getting longer.

Salt and I are certainly shopping and decorating and cooking like everyone else, but we're also becoming experts at building fires in the fireplace.  A brightly crackling fire makes even the mildest nights more cheerful, although we usually need the fire for supplementary heat.

The Last of the Great Correspondents

When I was young and visiting my grandparents in the Flint Hills, one of the highlights of the week would be a phone call from Evelyn Mae Reidel. Evie Mae wrote a community column for the weekly Chase County Leader. Her job was to report on all of the activities in the small town where my grandparents lived. Her reports included details such as who attended a local resident's birthday party, weights of grandchildren born, household accidents that led to broken bones, and visitors who stopped by. If Evie Mae called, one was certain to appear in that week's paper. Her folksy reports kept everyone aware of the lives of the neighbors.

Dress Like An Adult

One of my nieces recently posed a question on Facebook about how to dress like an adult. I was about her age when I started thinking that my fashion statement of I-don’t-care needed to be replaced with one that said I-am-mature-and-responsible. I’m not sure if she wants the same thing when she says she needs to dress like an adult. I didn’t feel comfortable posing questions or posting lots of cheerful advice. I know she would rather get advice from her peers than her embarrassing, intrusive aunt. This, of course, creates a dilemma for me, because I spent years at trial and lots of error finding my own answer and I’m dying to air my opinions on the subject. Thankfully, I have a blog, where I can write whatever I want without mortifying anyone, but myself -- and maybe Salt, but he has editorial approval privileges.

So for all you twenty-somethings out there who are wondering how to look trustworthy and sophisticated and mainstream, here is my advice: