Focus in the Fog

It's not often we get the opportunity to really connect with the neighborhood. So why do so many people choose to keep their light off and the door closed? I'm not talking about the small handful who are stuck at work or truly have more important things to do. But those for one reason or another who choose not to engage. I live in a suburban subdivision with lots of kids. Families are busy running people to this thing and that and it makes for a lot of homes but not a lot of

Last summer, we sort of thought things would be more normal in the fall. We pictured crowded indoor parties and mask-free shopping. While these things aren’t a great idea, that doesn’t mean we can’t spend time with friends. It just means we need to get creative. If you’re like me, having people over can be stressful (even without a global pandemic that won’t end). I have a tendency to feel like every square inch of my house needs to be clean before anyone can enter. I know th

I always have to laugh in the summer when all the bonfire Pinterest ideas pop up. In Ohio, it’s too hot for a bonfire in the summer. Sure there’s the occasional cool night and of course when camping, but where I live, fire pits are best enjoyed in the fall. (Or spring. We love to burn stray branches when we clean our yard in the spring.) Bonfires are one of those things for us. Whenever the kids suggest one, I’m always a little hesitant. Do we have any wood? Will it be too we

I never really thought much about the harvest. I grew up in a farm town, but I didn’t live on the farm. We had a good-sized garden, but nothing that required machinery to harvest. In fact, “harvest” was typically a word I heard in school. It was a PC term. Used instead of Halloween (so the uber-religious didn’t get mad) or Thanksgiving (so the non-religious didn’t get mad). When I wrote my first book, there was a whole chapter that took place on a farm during harvest and I ha