“Marley … was dead – to begin with.” This line from Charles Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol” used to kick off Christmas for me for many teenage and early tween years. I had wrought a tradition of my own to go to a theater in downtown Stuttgart, Germany, to listen to British actor Brian D. […]
To Ponder
The Foldscope Distribution Project Update
Intrepid hiker and world traveler Richard Dorsett stands by the window everyday watching and waiting for the delivery of Foldscopes (the origami folding microscope). He has tickets for Laos on December 28th. Once in Asia he will begin handing out Foldscope to middle school students to spark an interest is science. He will write of […]
The True Story of Lindy Lou
Mary Lavinia Cummins, and Netta Virginia Cummins, were identical twin sisters from Nevada, Missouri. They were children of the depression and World War II. My father, Donald Delos Doman married Mary Lavinia and spent WWII all over the South Pacific in the Merchant Marine. Virginia’s husband, Jacob Randall Whitworth fought in Italy during World WWII […]
A Tale of Two Family Christmas Traditions
One of my favorite holidays is Christmas. Even if I was Jewish or Muslim I would enjoy Christmas. It has nothing to do with religion . . . I just like the feeling and the traditions that make family memories. I read a post from my friend Amy Wigstrom about her mother and her own […]
Westside Story – "Hands Up"
When you hear the word, minor, do you think baseball? When you hear the word, minor, do you think coal? When you hear the word, minor, do you think underage drinking?
The One Present Christmas – 1956
The 1950s were a great time to grow up in Tacoma, Washington. My family was the first on the block to own a television. I was glued to the TV as I watched Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. It seemed just in time for Christmas when the Sears and Roebuck catalog arrived in […]
Letter: Amtrak disaster
Just before being interviewed by KIRO radio this morning, I was told by the caller “You’re about to go live but if you haven’t heard, three fatalities are now being reported.” No, I hadn’t heard.
Letter: All hands – and passengers – on deck, America
It was my then-three-year-old grandson on the phone. Where was his cereal, he wanted to know? Not, ‘good morning grandpa!’ Not, ‘I love you grandpa!’ But did I eat his “Cap’n Crunch”?
Home from Home: Tranquility
Are you feeling stressed out about running your Christmas errands (and doesn’t the verb “running” already describe the reason so well?!)? About stressed-out people taking it out on others with road rage or nagging in long supermarket lines? Are you hoping to just get the holidays over and done with? Though you really love them […]