Traveling across the sea to foreign ports in search of fabrics, teas, shoes, and the fine wines of France, must have seemed a romantic venture to the young mariner in 19th century America!  But for the wife of a seaman, the romance of a sea life was as far away ...

Springtime has always brought the promise of new life and the end of another brown, barren Illinois winter. The first tulips begin to pop open; trees get their first, almost invisible green buds, and soon, green grass springs up to carpet over the brown stuff on the ground. I remember ...

Abigail Smith was lively, opinionated, and intuitive from her youth. She was just 15 when her future husband, John Adams, first laid eyes on her. He was drawn to Abigail’s qualities from the beginning. When they married in 1744, she had his ear in the decisions he would be faced ...

In the days of the Victorian era, a picnic in the English countryside was a fine affair. Baskets were carefully packed with meats such as lamb and beef, often put between hearty pieces of wheat bread and garnished with cheeses, lettuce, and celery. Drinks included lemonade and ginger-beer, as well ...

The farm my dad was raised on during the years of the Great Depression didn’t have indoor plumbing, but it did have two beautiful apple trees in the front yard that gave the best yellow delicious apples ever. So enticing was the fall bounty that Dad would climb the trees ...

The American idea of the Valentine’s Day card came about in 1847, when Miss Esther Howland of Summer Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, received a Valentine greeting all the way from England and decided after admiring it that she could make a better one.  She set about assembling cards with lace ...

A precious lesson is inspired by a persecuted Christian brother in China: Physically beaten up in persecution for the name of Jesus Christ, Is as real and painful as emotional/mentally worn out in depression, I cry out “why am I still alive?” Even though I seem to have pitiful right ...

A little boy born to a Vermont farmer in 1865 had a curious fascination with nature. He loved the trees dotting the family homestead, and the colorful birds that made their homes in the branches. Growing up where most winters brought over 100 inches of snow, little Wilson Bentley became ...

I have vivid memories from the first home I remember as a little girl.  On summer evenings I would look for butterflies in our front yard. They seemed to flutter around the large tree that shaded our house as the last dappled sunlight fell. I loved a rainy day.  Mom ...

Everyone loves a feast. Indulging your temptations once in a while is a lot of fun! I remember family parties when I was young, playing with my cousins, singing songs, celebrating July 4th and Christmas Eve together. A big part of the happiness of those times centered around a table ...