Observations of Getting Old

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about old people lately. I struggled to yank the reason out of my subconscious as to why I started noticing the elderly everywhere I went and whether they seemed happy or sad or something in between. I often created stories in my head, wondering what they might have [...]

Grandma’s Loblollies

We take care of 92 year old Grandma Nina, my husband’s mother. She spent more than half of her life in Georgia, and although she still calls it home and still has her Georgia accent, she doesn’t like much about the South when she visits there. She’s a funny character, closely related to the pack [...]

Finding Happiness in a Vacuum

–Not a vacant space type vacuum, but an electrical cleaning device vacuum.
I visited my daughter Katie and her children in Seattle last week. Katie is a master gardener. Looking out her front windows is like looking at a small garden park, and even in March, everything is green and flowering. Gardening is her passion. The [...]

Life Plans

My favorite movie of 2007 was Dan in Real Life. It’s now in my DVD collection for many reasons, but most especially because of its message about how life doesn’t go as we planned. That message is summed up best in the last four lines of the movie: “Plan… to be surprised.”
“Surprised” is definitely the [...]

Jane Eyre and England

Jane Eyre and England
“The ground was hard, the air was still; my road was lonely. I walked fast at first to get warm, and then I walked slowly to enjoy and analyze the species of pleasure brooding for me in the hour and situation.” Thus, begins the prelude to one of my favorite parts [...]

What’s On Your Soundtrack?

A few weeks ago I received one of those email friendship surveys. This one wasn’t the same-ol’, same-ol’ that has been circulating for years, but you’ve probably all seen it by now. It’s the one where your friends answer questions about you like “Where did we meet?” and “What color are my eyes?”, to see [...]

Happy Talk is Evolving

A new month, a new look for Happy Talk. And it won’t be the last evolution. We like change because it means growth.
First, please note the new photo. We will change the photograph at the top monthly to showcase Dad’s and other family member’s art work. Credit for who took the picture will appear in [...]

I Wrote A Book!

I wrote a book that is being published! It is about the San Rafael Swell and Emery County. I work for Emery County as the Administrator of the Archives, and that’s who gets the credit–the Archives. It’s a long story, but I am the Archives: the administrator, the secretary, the tech and the only person [...]