Janet's Blog

When I was a little girl living in Norfolk, Nebraska, I used to meet Aunt Marilyn in the park that was situated just over the Elkhorn River bridge, about halfway between her house and mine. Marilyn is just four years older than I am, so we were raised more like cousins than aunt and niece. We loved to play in that park; we especially loved the wide slide. So when Marilyn told me, not too long ago, that the playground had been demolished to make way for a new and better park, I was a little skeptical. While we were in Norfolk recently for a family reunion, I asked Bill to drive by the park so I could take a look. The change was so dramatic that Bill and I walked all over the new park. It had been turned into a river walk! When Marilyn and I played in the park so long ago, we weren't really aware that the park bordered the river, because it wasn't at all accessible to the park. But now! A new, wide biking and hiking path borders the river, even crossing the river with a new foot ...

I was sitting on my patio this afternoon, admiring the pink water lily blooming in my backyard pond, when I noticed a squirrel approaching the water. He must not have spotted me, sitting quietly on the bench nearby. He positioned himself at the corner of the pond and leaned over to get a drink. I moved just enough to take his picture. He finished drinking before he finally noticed me and scurried away. This spring, I've noticed plenty of birds perching on the big rock in another corner of the pond, where they can also drink, and quite a few neighborhood cats, as well, who often jump the fence to gaze longingly at our eight goldfish, and get a drink of water. I've also noticed that we've acquired at least one neighborhood opossum; I've spied it hugging our house as it turned the corner and headed toward our backyard.  I didn't think anything of it until a couple of weeks ago, when my neighbor called me over to the fence.  Wendy wanted me to know that another neighbor...

The Wounded Knee Creek flows right through the middle of the family ranch, which borders South Dakota to the north. The ranch, which is used by various extended family members for hunting and vacations, has been one of my favorite places ever since I visited there for the first time, nearly 60 years ago. Now, my grandchildren are the fifth generation of our family to explore everything the ranch has to offer, next to, over, and even in the Wounded Knee. As soon as we arrive, sleeping arrangements are negotiated--some in the main house, and others in the bunkhouse nearby. Then, the kids all beg to go down to the swing, hanging from a 150 year old Cottonwood tree that sits on the creek bank. On the Sunday afternoon before Memorial Day, Bill and I arrived a little earlier than the rest of our crew, so as soon as Bill turned on the electricity and primed the pump so the plumbing would work appropriately, we transferred the food from our cooler to the refrigerator, and headed down to the s...

My local grandchildren recently finished their homeschool curriculum for this school year and, to celebrate, we planned to go camping at Lake Minatare, located 12 miles northeast of Gering. However, since the kids had been hoping to camp on the far eastern side of the lake, our campsites were probably closer to 17 miles from home. We avoid camping on weekends, especially holiday weekends, because we've found that the campgrounds are sparcely populated during the week. That's just the way we like it. However, the weather forecast was not in our favor this time. We had planned to leave on Sunday, after church, but Monday's forecast was horrible--rainy, with highs only in the forties. That's not good camping weather unless you like to stay inside your RV, watching TV or reading a good book. Our crew prefers to spend virtually all of their time outdoors, at the beach, so we postponed our trip until Tuesday, leaving just enough time at the lake before the Memorial Day crowd ...