Janet's Blog

Winter has never been my favorite season of the year. I love to be outdoors, but not when the air temperature is cold enough to kill me. And not when the frigid northwest wind blows the flags straight out from their poles, and threatens to blow me off my feet. But the temperature isn't the worst of it; I really hate the depressing brown landscape that dominates our winters in the Nebraska panhandle. For me, a skiff of snow is a blessing that covers up the brown and adds some contrast to an otherwise dull vista. Frosty trees are magical. Blazing sunsets, though short lived, revive my sagging spirits. In the dead of winter, I have to look hard to find beauty in the brown. Frosty pine trees line the highway south of town. Footprints on the uncleared path lead to the Monument. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. Psalm 147:16 A dusting of snow covers the ground just to the east of Chimney Rock, as the setting sun illuminates the sky. Freezing rain can be tre...

There is much to be said for toilet paper. I, for one, am grateful it exists.  During the pandemic, many of us were reminded that something as common as toilet paper was not something we should take for granted. As much as we were dumbfounded by the quickly emerging Covid 19 crisis, I think many of us were flabbergasted at the resulting toilet paper shortage. Actually, there was no real shortage, there was just not enough available for home use. While most people holed up at home, cases and cases of commercial toilet paper were left unused in the empty schools and offices thoughout our country. I am sure that more than a few people had to get a little creative to compensate. In centuries past, before toilet paper was invented as an aid to hemorrhoid care in the mid 1800s, people used whatever was available--rocks, seashells, straw, leaves--until most agrarian areas settled on the ubiquitous corn cobs, which were said to work quite well.  Ancient Romans used sponges soaked in s...

It had been years--decades, really--since I last worked on a paint by number project. I hadn't planned to do one now, but I wanted inexpensive turtle artwork, in just the right colors, for my updated primary bathroom. I checked on Amazon, and found that the artwork I liked the best was more than $200. I didn't want to spend that much on a bathroom turtle, no matter how much I liked it, but the less expensive options were too small for my space, or too subdued, or just plain ugly. Then, I came across a paint by number option that I truly loved. I thought about it for a few days. I could have painted my own turtle without much difficulty but, during the holiday season, that would have required more brain power than I had left after shopping, making travel plans, and organizing a myriad of activities, including our 50th anniversary celebration. So, I decided to try this paint by number. Almost done I ordered the kit from Amazon, and waited impatiently for it to arrive. I opened it...