by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 13, 2019 | Aging, Child development, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting, Nature
The Pumpkin Patch Adventure This was the week Bean and I made our annual pilgrimage to her favorite pumpkin patch. We’ve been doing this together since she was three years old and now she’s eight and knows the routine quite well. “I’ll start...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 6, 2019 | Aging, Family, Travel
What Scares You? After I posted the blog last week showing off my new set of wheels, I received some interesting emails from friends. Some were positive, but others, mostly from readers close to my age, were some variation on these two statements: “How can you...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Sep 29, 2019 | Family, Grandparenting, Travel, Writing
I’m Baaa-aaak! It’s hard to believe, but the last day I posted to this blog was May 14, my mother’s birthday. I had no particular desire or intent to stop writing here, but I was trying to stay focused on the one writing project that had kept me awake at nights...
by Marlene Bumgarner | May 14, 2019 | Aging, Cooking and Eating, Family
Mama’s Rice Pudding Today is my mother’s birthday. She would have been 99. I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately, and when one day last week remained grey and somber past noon, I began thinking about her rice pudding. When I was a little girl, Mom offered...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Apr 11, 2019 | Aging, Family, Grandparenting, Nature, Travel
My Cure for Wanderlust Each winter I hunker down, read, write, and watch a lot of British mysteries. During my hybernation, I tell myself I’ll be content to stay inside my little house for ever. But then the sun comes out, the crocuses and daffodils begin to flower,...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Mar 1, 2019 | Back to the Land, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Nature
PART ONE — MOVING TO THE LAND Introduction It was November 1973 and my my mother-in-law wasn’t speaking to me. Again. My husband, John, I and our 11-month-old daughter Doña Ana were living in a basement room in his parents’ home at Lick Observatory on Mount...