Arriving at a restaurant for breakfast while on vacation, my husband looked for a place to park. Located in a residential neighborhood with no parking lot, the only thing you could do was drive around until you found something on the street. It didn’t take Mister Rain long to see…
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of Independence this year, I was curious as to what was happening this week in 1776. August 1, 1776 Just one day before the formal parchment of the Declaration of Independence was signed, Patriot leader Samuel Adams delivered a passionate, unifying speech…
It’s a Tuesday morning, I’m working at the dining room table. Piper is playing in the adjacent living room, my keystrokes mingle with the sound of his toys hitting the floor after he pushes them off the coffee table. It becomes quiet; Piper preens himself for a bit before getting…
I am a Sweaty Betty. Always have been, always will be. I don’t know if it’s an official gene, but I got it from my father who was the same way. Though there is no cure for the condition, there is a treatment: air blowing on my face. It doesn’t…
Though mid-June, the humidity that accompanies this month and the two that follow every year in Southeastern Pennsylvania had graciously delayed its arrival into the region. On this day, temperatures in the high 80s were not formed by heavy, thick, warm air that once inside your body covers your bones…
For Part 1, click here. Getting out of the rental car at Bonneville Salt Flats, my sneakers crunched on the salt crust. The appearance of the bright white surface screamed ice and snow despite the 93-degree temperature. Walking a few feet from the vehicle, I reached down to feel…
The Pony Express was a pioneering mail delivery system that used a relay of horseback riders. Operating for just 18 months between 1860 and 1861, riders sped across nearly 2,000 miles of rugged terrain between Missouri and California. It was a reliable process with letters being delivered in about 10…
Piper will carry part of his afternoon snack, Nutri-berries, up to the top of his mansion (we never call it a cage), the area known as the penthouse. This is a relatively new behavior in the last year. To see him carry a snack in his mouth almost the size…
About 100 miles west of Salt Lake City near the Nevada border are the Bonneville Salt Flats. They are a densely packed 46-square-mile salt pan, a vestige of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. The massive prehistoric lake covered much of the Great Basin region roughly 12,000 to 32,000 years ago. As the…
My husband pulled up to the curb and I hopped out of our rental car to use the bathroom at Bryce Canyon National Park. The woman already waiting turned to smile at me upon my arrival. “What is Sister Rain?,” she asked, seeing my t-shirt with its name, logo, tagline…
