Super Rachel Zana's Spot

Mr. Trouble on Feet begged and begged to learn to mow the lawn this summer. I thought he would probably only be able to handle the flat parts of the yard, because we have some steep hills that require quite a bit of strength to maneuver, but during “Lawnmowing Training”…

“Mom, can I check my email?” Since social distancing started, I have heard these words at least seven times a day from this girl who loves connecting with people, and has learned to love email.

It was windy, chilly and the lake was moderately angry. Crashing waves always make me at peace.

A box arrived from Grandma Kathy, and in it a stack of Sunday Comics, which are always a hot commodity around here. I love that such a simple act of generosity brings so much joy to my people.

This picnic table, which was sitting on the beach like normal last fall, is now nearly completely buried in rocks from the storms that have happened since then. The power of water amazes me whenever I see it, because the tables far from the shoreline, which is something that you…

High School graduation in our area is virtual this year. Two weeks ago or so the senior class signed up for time slots to come into the school building to have their photograph taken while they walked across the stage and were handed the folder for their diploma (real diplomas…

There’s nothing like a sudden drop into supplementing distance learning from school with “mom school” activities to increase the learning threshold! I may not have gotten a lot of my own normal work done, but I did learn a lot of things that maybe I once knew but forgot, or…

I don’t often use this space for commentary about politics and current events, but my state has been in the middle of extensive trauma and turmoil for the past week. All week things have gotten worse and worse. I’m blessed to have a home to live in, food to eat,…

It was Sunday, and since we no longer have a virtual youth chorus rehearsal, we were able to head to the beach! Upon arriving at the Secret Beach, the shoreline of which had again changed greatly through the big fall and winter storms we had last year, one sibling took…

We brought our paint supplies outside to paint the birdhouses on Sunday afternoon. The Banana hasn’t painted her house yet because we could not extract her from the book she was in the middle of reading. The finished products are lovely, every one of them different than the next, which…