Musikalisch means musical in German, and my German grandfather truly was musically gifted. He never took a music lesson but played piano, drums, banjo, and ukulele very well. In 1930, when swing music played by the big bands was all the rage, he started his own 10-piece band in our ...
Read More »When is Your Second Birthday?
Do you remember the birthday parties of your childhood, old black and white photos of little friends wearing party hats, blowing paper horns, and eating cake and ice cream? In those days, parties were often a dress up affair, little girls in brightly colored dresses with white anklet socks and ...
Read More »Lesson from A Sunken Ship
“not even God himself could sink this ship” (employee of the White Star Line, 1911 launch of Titanic) They named her Titanic and it suited ...
Read More »What is Hidden
Nature was a big part of our childhood. We loved to be outside, so it was a thrill when we moved out of the city to a new subdivision springing up from land that had grown crops and fed horses and cows for over a century. A small creek ran ...
Read More »Consider the Penalty
Punishment in early American life was often public and quite humiliating to the offender. The Puritans of New England believed what God said, taking their laws directly from the bible. Drunkenness, fornication, and even smoking brought down the gavel as fast as stealing from a neighbor. Scarlet letters were worn ...
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