Why It’s Important to Have Your Own Library
Some of my grandfather's books, now on my bookshelf When my grandparents were expelled from their hometown in Czechoslovakia after World War II, they lost their house and all their possessions. However, my grandfather most lamented the loss of his library. When he later tried to regain entry and claim, in vain, Czech citizenship, he tried to [...]
Cozy Mysteries Are A Reading Vacation for Me
We've been dealing with a few health issues lately (everything seems OK now), and so I've slacked off blogging. However, yesterday, as I retired to my bathtub with the newest installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, I realized reading this book is like taking a reading vacation. Perhaps that's the [...]
Photo Essay: At the County Fair
Boy in a Bubble - my youngest was the only one in the right weight class to go walking on water. Going to the Porter County Fair in Valparaiso, Indiana, has become a summer tradition for our family. The kids love the rides (see above). I'll go on one or two, and then my husband and I mull about [...]
In Memory of Munich
As the Olympic Games open in London, I dedicate my blog post today to the 40th anniversary of the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. As some of you might now, I grew up in the Munich area. Thus the Munich Olympics hold special meaning for me. I was a kid [...]
A Spanish Colonial House in Shanghai
After featuring a renovated Shanghai lane house, I want to give you another insight into living in contemporary Shanghai with a few shots of the home of Patricia Lambert, which I was fortunate enough to visit on the last day of my trip. Built in 1925 in the Spanish Colonial style, it's not at all what I would have [...]
Tornado Trees
Our property out in the country of northwestern Indiana got hit by a tornado last weekend. Thankfully, none of the buildings were damaged. As we walked assessing the damage, it was quite amazing to us urbanites to see how big healthy trees were twisted off in a seemingly random pattern. Other trees were simply bent over in long elegant [...]