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“Wear your old clothes tomorrow, something you can get dirty,” I instructed my sixth graders. We were studying a unit on archeology and planned to enter a cave to see what was there. One of the pleasures of living in Papua, Indonesia, is that a lot of World War II history…

Poor, pitiful Pokey. On the night of April 22, my dog had a traumatic experience. The evening started well enough. Pokey was guarding me from under the bed as I caught up on current events. My husband had gone off to the store, and the boys were outside on…

I’m making a list and checking it twice. And then twice more after that. I mustn’t forget what I want to discuss. I have an annual exam at the doctor’s office coming up in mid-June. Big sigh! I’m a little anxious about the appointment. I have cold agglutinin disease…

“We’ve been together since way back when/ Sometimes I never want to see you again/ But I want you to know, after all these years/ You’re still the one I want whisperin’ in my ear.” — From “Still the One,” written by John and Johanna Hall and recorded by…

Shielding my eyes from the bright sun, I set the laundry basket on the ground and select a few shirts. I sling them over my left shoulder and get started on my task. I have always hung my laundry out in the sunlight and fresh air to dry. To be…

“It rained and it rained and it rained. Piglet told himself that never in all his life, and he was goodness knows how old—three, was it, or four?—never had he seen so much rain.” — A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh“ This was a perfect description of the rain coming down. Before,…

Pokey, my constant companion and cohort in crime, let me know that he had to go outside immediately. I am at an age where this is perfectly understandable. It was just 5:30 a.m. However, Pokey is a creature of habit. He has never understood the human concept of “sleeping in.”…

Looking down at the compass, I lined up the arrow on the bottom plate with the degrees where my counselor had told me to go. “Turn the compass to make sure the red arrow is showing north,” I mumbled to myself as I oriented my body to face the designated…

My boys are scarfing down their Koko Krunch cereal. I hear the water running in the shower where my husband is. Soon, he and the boys will depart for their usual, fascinating day at school, where they’ll encounter new things, talk to others, and do stuff. I am slouched at…

The morning is hushed and still. A golden light shimmers through the air as the early rays of the sun hit the sparkle of freshly fallen raindrops on the banana leaves here in Papua, Indonesia. I lug my laptop out to the porch and prop my feet up on the…