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On Saturday, September 5, 2026, the Schelle cousins gathered in Breda, Iowa, at the Legion Hall (post 607) on Main St. Extra bathrooms have been added over the years, still rustic as in my memory. I’ve been there often for weddings, funerals, and graduations, but it had been years since the last time. The occasion…
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My dad, Leny Thelen, enjoyed his life of selling beer very much. He retired in 1994, at age 62. I wonder if the heavy lifting of kegs and other duties came to be too much. He loved the social part, cracking a smile often, as he interacted with the bar owners on his route, and…
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This puzzle was started on February 18, 2025, and hung around until Thanksgiving of the same year. I have never given up on a jigsaw puzzle, and with Claude’s help, I didn’t have to on this one. There are 1000 pieces, and only a 5″ by 7″ photo of this 1906 painting to go by.…
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As our boats move away to winter storage, my thoughts are moving to another time in our life pre-boats. Our oldest son, Bryan, bought a fishing boat. It was the year 2000, he told me today when I asked about this picture. He remembered because it was before Clara, his first child, who was born…
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Ahhh, the surprises of summer. Inside, I am wowed by my little water garden, in a sunny window, (above). It is re-growing romaine lettuces and celery, from grocery store produce end cuts. This is my 2nd growing. I ate the first salad, photo below: I’m also attempting to root a cutting. After 1 week, it…
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You may know that I like to walk. Many years ago in our first Omaha nighborhood, near 55th and Jackson, I met up with 2 other walkers for an hour long, 4 mile urban hike at 6 AM. We had an understanding that we would never give a wake up call to each other. We…
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This morning, I woke up from a dream about throwing on some clothes and going for a pre-dawn walk around the Royal Palms Resort at the base of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, like I did every morning last week. The complimentary coffee was set up in the MixUp Bar. To get there, I enjoyed a…
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It wasn’t the right time. I may have been overwhelmed. It was Christmas, 40 years ago. We had traveled to Carroll, IA, from Omaha as we often did, with four children, food, and presents packed in the minivan. I had wrapped the gifts in brown kraft paper with red ribbons and handmade stamps applied (made…
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Call me Papergirl. I love newspapers! I love them so much that I’ve been gifted with a small town Iowa weekly, The Coon Rapids Enterprise, which I now get in the mail. It covers my hometown area of Carroll County. I also read the digital versions of The Carroll Times Herald, (covering Carroll, IA news),…
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Voices came to me as soon as I stepped out of the car. Looking around, I saw that mine was the only car parked on the pathway. Scary. I also saw that I was the only person standing in the area. It was a windy afternoon. The talking I heard must have been people’s voices…
On Writing, On Life 