Karen's Blog

Read a Little Christmas

12/21/2018

Holiday books are almost more common than the lights I wrote about in my last post. Most are short and of the feel good type. So whether your holiday season is frantic and you can only find a couple of hours for yourself with a hot beverage and a cookie (or more than one), or yours is a quiet season with alone time to fill, there are plenty of choices. I want to share some of the variety of holiday mysteries I have come across. If you have an ereader, many of these are free or very cheap. So grab those cookies!

A View to a Chill: A Cherry Tucker and Maizie Albright Interconnected Mystery (Maizie Albright Star Detective Book 4) by Larissa Reinhart
This book takes an unusual approach by having the main characters from two different series meet up. I haven't read any of either series but I intend to. Maizie Albright is a former child star who returns to her home state of Georgia to become a private detective. Cherry Tucker is a small town girl who meddles some in local crime solving. The book switches point of view between the two women and does a great job of portraying each character. Maizie decides to follow up on a missing granddaughter at no charge because it's almost Christmas and her search takes her to the very small town of Halo. Cherry Tucker, a resident of Halo, is confined to bed with a raging case of the flu and hates Christmas. Since Cherry observes some odd goings-on through her bedroom window and Maizie finds that many of the people she meets are not who they appear to be, the story has a bit of a flavor from the movies Rear Window and Charade. There are some hilarious moments and the characters are great.

Big Top Treachery (Circus Cozy Mysteries) by CeeCee James
Not your usual small town or English village holiday setting but a circus! Susannah (or Trixie as she is better known) is billed as the world's smallest Lady Godiva. When the calliope player is found murdered by a sword that has been missing for some time, suspicion falls on many of the circus members and Trixie must find courage and confidence that she never thought she had. A fun look at a different world.

Candy Canes and Christmas (A Pelican Cove Short Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Leena Clover
Jenny King, who has found a new life on an island off the Virginia shore, takes action to help a children's home have a Merry Christmas. But a mysterious old man, Harry, appears on the beach handing out candy canes. Jenny becomes so intrigued by him that she gives him a place to stay over the objections of her friends and boyfriend. Is Harry as harmless as he appears? What is his story and his secret? A delightful holiday story.

Final Cycle (Logland Mystery Series Book 2) by Elaine L. Orr
This book won't be released until Dec 23, but I had the privilege of doing an advance read. When the body of the most annoying woman in town is found in a clothes dryer in the local laundromat, police chief Elizabeth Friedman has plenty of suspects. Only solving the mystery will bring holiday cheer and security back to the small town. Elizabeth is a wonderful main character--a sensible and competent law enforcement officer who must juggle the local politics, a diverse force and eccentric small town characters to solve the crime.

A Highland Christmas (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries, No. 16) by M. C. Beaton
If you haven't met Hamish Macbeth, you are in for a treat. Constable Macbeth deals with a spate of Yuletide crimes, balancing the wish of some for Christmas cheer to brighten the winter and the Calvinist leanings of others opposing such holiday displays. The new schoolteacher is especially fascinated by Hamish, as he searches for stolen lights, Christmas tree, and a cat.

Christmas, Criminals, and Campers By Tonya Kappes
I'm just about halfway through this myself, but of course I can't resist a camping mystery. Mae West, the owner of the Happy Trails Campground in Normal, Kentucky and the Laundry Club ladies deal with the death of a famous author, who isn't what she seems. Romance between Mae and Hank Sharp, local deputy, appears to be heating up and Mae's life is further complicated by a visit from her foster mother--not something that boosts Mae's holiday spirit.

And while we're on the subject of camping (see how I did that?), I can't neglect to mention A Campy Christmas by yours truly.
Frannie and Larry Shoemaker are facing a Christmas alone and decide to join Mickey and Jane Ann Ferraro on a camping trip south. But they get caught in Missouri by a wayward snowstorm and end up snowbound in a campground for the holidays.
When I was writing this three years ago, I put a question on several Facebook camping pages: Have you ever been snowbound while camping? I was amazed by the number of affirmative responses. People who ran out of propane and spent the night in a visitor's center or lost communications and even one who rescued a stranded man! So it's not as farfetched as you think.

So find a book and curl up and enjoy. Don't forget to leave the author a review (a very cheap but appreciated present!) And have a great holiday!

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The Parable of the Christmas Lights

12/10/2018

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We've all been there. The holidays are approaching so we haul the boxes of decorations from the attic, or the basement, or wherever they have resided the bulk of the year. Maybe we turn on a Christmas CD and hum along while we heat up a cup of hot chocolate or cider or other seasonal drink. We get out the lights and try to string them out on the living room or garage floor. The difficulty of this task depends on how OCD we were the year before--carefully winding them on a spool or wadding them up in a sack or some organizing technique in between. If we are wadders, we face the gargantuan task of untangling, and we may switch from hot chocolate to a glass of wine. Just a small one.

Once they are untangled, we plug them in, one by one. They don't all light. Ever. That is a rule about Christmas lights. We get a little more wine and set about checking for empty sockets and misfunctioning bulbs. This day and age, all light sets say "If one or more bulbs burn out, others will stay lit." That is a lie. After replacing some bulbs, tightening others, and shaking the string (gently), the lights come on. Success!

The next job is to hang them. Maybe they go on a tree, or along the eaves, or above the kitchen cabinets, or along a railing. Wherever their destination, the task is usually not a piece of cake. It involves ladders, wire ties, masking tape, a good sense of balance, and greenery--artificial or otherwise. Regardless, once the lights are hung and we plug them in, voila! One section does not light. Or maybe more than one. Right in the middle. Always. Sometimes a little jiggling will remedy that situation, but then the middle of a another string goes out. More wine.

Strings of lights have become so ubiquitous that they aren't just for Christmas any more. So even if you are of a different religious persuasion, or none, you have still had this experience.

I bought three new strings of lights for our 9 1/2 foot tree two years ago. This year, only one string lit up completely before they went on the tree. The other two only lit halfway.

I decided I didn't care--one whole string and two halves would be enough. I strung the whole string back and forth, top to bottom. I added the other strings and wadded up the unlit sections, tucking them back into the center of the tree where they can't be seen. It wasn't the most even lighting job but looked okay. I proceeded to hang fifty-five years of collected ornaments--more if you count the silver-painted pine cone from my grandmother's tree--and finished off with real tinsel. The aluminum kind that I carefully save from year to year, not that new plastic kind. We both approved the final look and sat down to enjoy our evening and the tree.

Two hours later, the top third of the tree went dark. That was the first string that earlier in the day lit completely before it went on the tree. The string that went on before the other two, all of the ornaments, and the tinsel. The next day, I bought another string to fill in, took the tinsel and ornaments off that part of the tree, carefully wove the new lights through the branches, and replaced the decorations. However, I am not foolish enough to believe that all of the working lights will continue to light until after New Year's.

What's the point?

This whole light fiasco can be seen as a parable for our lives. No matter how carefully we buy, store, and test our lights, some will go dark. Usually in the middle of the string. And we are faced with making do or redoing or changing our expectations. Probably all three.

This summer we made plans for the fall that included several camping trips and a grandson's wedding in Mexico. Then my husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. We jiggled those plans and replaced components, but finally had to change our expectations and cancel each plan, one by one. The treatment is going well and we are hopeful for next year. That is what is important in this moment.

We are aware that we are not alone; we know several others with serious glitches in their strings of lights. Some more serious than ours. What we are all left with is the need to enjoy and appreciate the lights when they are on.

Another lesson from the lights is that even though the tree is beautiful, there are those hidden wads of lights gone dark. Just as many of our friends and neighbors are dealing with dark spots that may not be visible in the flashily lit tree. This is the parable of the lights: Hold your loved ones close and be aware of lights gone dark.

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Double Dutch Treat

8/17/2018

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Being in one of Verizon's black holes (perhaps because we were near a body of water as one young Verizon employee explained to me once), my blog had to wait until we returned home. Here's the final update. Tuesday was a quiet day for us. The rest of the gang went to the State Fair while we opted for less walking (and eating.) We did get in a couple of bike rides and ran some errands in town. Before we returned to the campground, we drove out to see the damage left by a tornado a few weeks ago on the important Pella company, Vermeer. The damage seemed confined to the easternmost buildings, but that included fallen roofs and twisted flagpoles.

Wednesday began with a threat of rain and a meal known in the group as ‘Heart Attack Breakfast.’ It centers around French toast made with Jaarsma’s Bakery cinnamon bread and topped with Tom’s maple-bacon-apple-butter syrup. Then most of us went to town for a private tour of the Windmill Museum. We had visited the village behind the windmill before but had not done the museum. Gary is a volunteer docent who is a friend of some of our camping group and gave us an excellent tour. The museum includes a miniature Dutch village, built by various craftsmen, with over 100 buildings. All are replicas of a building somewhere in Holland.

The tour of the mill itself--the largest working windmill in the US--began at the top in the milling room. The mill was not actually working at the time because they were doing some painting on the blades. But the structure, its design and construction, and its function is an amazing story.

After the mill, we walked a half-block to the old Opera house. This has been rebuilt to look as it did in the early part of the last century. It includes a Wurlitzer organ on which we received an impromtu mock concert.

Thursday our trip to town for coffee, muffins, and internet at the Smokey Row Cafe only netted us two out of three. Their wifi was down. By the time we polished off the snacks, it was too late to go anywhere else because we had plans for a trip to Tassel Ridge Winery in the afternoon. Priorities, you know. The view of the fast moving storms from their sunroom was pretty spectacular and we were gratified when we returned to camp that all campers, awnings, etc. appeared to be intact. The day finished with a steak fry and a lovely sunset--a fine finish before our return home today.

Besides the Pella sites, we enjoyed the eagle watching, biking, and hiking at the campground. A sad note: there are many ash trees in this shady spot that will need to come down soon, judging from the bare branches. The walnut trees are doing well, which we can attest to by the bombardment our trailer roof received. We pictured nasty squirrels high above using us for target practice but perhaps it was just gravity.

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Dutch Treat

8/14/2018

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We are near Pella for what has become our yearly camping week at Howell Station, right below the dam at Red Rock Lake. There are six other couples with us and supper on Sunday night was quite afeast, including sweet corn picked that morning. We like this campground because the sites are shaded and level and there are decent bathhouses.

It’s very large--over 100 sites--and the campground roads plus the bike trail along the Des Moines River make for a lot of great bike riding that isn’t too much of a challenge for our old legs. Yesterday we took several short rides.

One drawback here is very poor internet and phone connection. In fact, there is a bench along the the river that is in the open enough to make a call. We call it the Internet bench.

Yesterday morning we made a trip into Pella for several important errands: a new cord for our percolator since ours gave up the ghost that morning, and a visit to Jaarmsma”s Bakery for some nice whole wheat bread and well--a couple of muffins, strudel and a few cookies. And then lunch at the Smokey Row coffee shop and a chance to catch up on our email, etc. Today we will return to the bakery to pick up some cinnamon bread one of our fellow campers ordered for tomorrow’s special breakfast and a little more internet time. But mostly we are relaxing and I am working on the second book in the Mystery Sisters series, tentatively titled Foliage and Fatalities.

On the agenda for the rest of the week: the winery, sales at a couple of the shops, and maybe some barbecue. Plus naps.

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Friends, Fairs, and Flies

7/24/2018

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This past weekend's camping trip included very spotty internet, so the blog had to wait until our return home. We returned to North Central Iowa and Beed's Lake where we had been a few weeks ago with the Midwest Glampers. Several of my classmates were going to be in town for the Franklin County Fair. The fairgrounds also include a historical village complete with blacksmithing demonstrations and an ice cream maker powered by a tractor.

Wednesday night we were able to gather for a pleasant campfire, although the loop we were in was so full of large RVs and campers, that it was hardly experiencing the outdoors. Saturday night we did another one, but borrowed a tent site down by the lake where it was less congested. Thursday, we were hit with heavy rains several times--part of the system that spawned 25 tornadoes throughout Iowa that day. Consequently we sampled some of the local restaurants as well as the fair food.

The recent heat wave combined with the rain apparently also spawned a record number of flies, so that the most useful tool in the camper was the fly swatter. However, the flow over the beautiful Beed's Lake Dam was back to normal from a few weeks ago.

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Cherry-Pickin'

7/14/2018

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It's an important family weekend--the second birthday of our great-granddaughter Olivia Jane. So we are at Cherry Glen campground seven minutes away from them. Our son Pat, wife Jill, and grandson Jack are up from Texas for the event as well. Like most of our camping this year, the weather could be better but the campground is full. That wasn't true when we arrived Thursday, but by last night all of these sites were full and the nearby playground was at capacity.

Yesterday Pat and Jill took Jack for a college visit at Iowa State, Brooke and Nick had to work, and Olivia was at daycare so we had to entertain ourselves. After a leisurely morning, we took a drive around Saylorville Lake, the recent scene of some very heavy rains and still affected by flooding. A number of roads were closed but we did enjoy the prairie flowers at Acorn Valley recreation area.

Later in the afternoon, we gathered at Brooke and Nick's for pizza. Olivia's presents this year from us are all hand-me-downs from our no-longer-used attic playroom: plastic dishes and food and a wooden rocking horse. She found the little toaster a challenge but bravely resisted any attempts to show her how to use it (she is two, after all). She allowed Great-Grandpa to pick her up only so she could supervise her mother's amazing job of putting rainbow frosting on her cupcakes, which she then decided passed the taste test.

Today her grandparents and great-grandparents will be charged with babysitting while her parents go to a wedding in Cedar Falls. I hope we meet her high standards. Fortunately, she thinks her Uncle Jack is pretty cool. Meanwhile this morning a lazy breakfast and some writing. I'm thinking the dumpster dumping truck that came around at 7:20 this morning probably didn't make any friends here in the campground.

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Ruminating on Reunions

7/7/2018

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It is a gorgeous weekend weather-wise and we are not camping. I hope it's not the only good one of the summer. But it's been busy. Friday we met some of Butch's classmates for lunch. We are getting so old that reminiscing about high school years has been done over and over and mostly we just catch up on everyone.

Then after supper, we stopped downtown at a gathering of the local class of 1973. This was my first class of eighth graders and I have been forever grateful that they were so easy on me. It could have been a short teaching career. I have a special connection to that class in that when I quit teaching 22 years later, one member of that class took my place and I went to work for another one--part time in her flower shop. It was really great to catch up with them as they now near retirement. One man (it's hard not to think of them as kids) said he didn't remember my face, but he remembered my voice. Hmmm.

In a little over a week, we will journey to my hometown for the county fair and an informal gathering of some of my classmates. I think reunions get better with age. I'm working on the first book in a new series right now that will be titled Reunion and Revenge. I hope that's not prophetic.

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A Wild Wrap Up

6/25/2018

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Saturday of our Midwest Glampers "Ladies On the Lake" campout began at Kim's trailer, "Goldie," with a mimosa and Bloody Mary Bar. The Glampers then hurried back to their own sites to prepare for the 11:00 tour of the campers. A number of people from the rest of the campground and from town took advantage of the opportunity to glimpse the insides of these 'tiny houses.'

In the afternoon, Ginge and I took a walk around the lake, a feat that only takes about an hour. That left time for a little rest before getting ready for the final event: the Trailer Trash Tragedy mystery game. Those who wished to participate received descriptions of their characters a few weeks ago and went totally crazy devising costumes. Midwestern thrift stores must be sadly depleted. The game involves four rounds. The first includes introductions and a white elephant gift exchange, the second appetizers and cocktails with clues, the third a potluck supper with more clues, and round four the solution--and dessert.

It was fun to reconnect with such a diverse group and meet people we hadn't met before. This group is unique in that there are no dues and no officers. Events are organized by any members who want to take it on and others jump in to help. I think there's a little Peter Pan influence--no one really wants to grow up.

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Get Your Glamp On!

6/22/2018

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Think of a combination gypsy camp, wagon train, and flea market. The Midwest Glampers are meeting at my old stomping grounds at Beed's Lake State Park and our loop is a colorful riot of chaos. There are campers from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, as well as individuals from Michigan and Illinois. Most have restored or rebuilt vintage trailers. Some even have tents that have been glamped.

The weather on Thursday was threatening and chilly with low hanging clouds. We managed to get a book discussion in after supper because this is the locale that The Lady of the Lake was based on. Friday was a great improvement with some sun and gentle breezes. Many took a trip to town for a great lunch at The Rustic Brew and some shopping.

In the evening, things got crazy. Supper was a baked potato bar and things got cleared out of the way for a "Trailer Trashion Show." The little girls even got into the act by donning mustaches to ride their bikes around the campground. Two incredibly silly games entertained the group until dark--one involving shower camps, shaving cream and cheese puffs; the other a takeoff on bag toss with rolls of toilet paper and mounted toilet seats.

At dark, after a brilliant Beed's Lake sunset, Brody from the Franklin County Conservation Commission gave a talk about the legend of the Lady of the Lake and then organized us for a night hike interspersed with holes of miniature golf. I was certainly ready for bed after that!

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...and then the mouse died

6/6/2018

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It all started last Tuesday or Wednesday when our oldest son called and wanted his dad to join him Saturday in a benefit golf tournament for the school music department. Since driving over for the day would mean a very early rise, we decided to take the camper and spend the weekend at Johnson Sauk Trail State Park. We like the park and the weather was supposed to be good. We planned to stay Friday to Monday. We did a minimal load, food-wise, because we would only be about five miles from Kewanee and could make a grocery run if we needed to.

About halfway there, the truck started to make noise like an old-fashioned egg beater. We had had similar issues before and it was never good or cheap. Since it's hard to pull into a dealer for diagnosis on the engine while pulling a thirty-foot trailer, we nursed it along to the campground and unhooked the trailer. By this time, it's late Friday afternoon so Butch hot-footed it into town in time for them to do a preliminary diagnosis. It was the #6 valve or cylinder or something but beyond that, they couldn't tell until they tore into it. They would start first thing Monday morning and it might be something simple that could be fixed in a couple of hours and we could head home as planned.

However, it might be something much more complicated, requiring tearing the engine apart, and taking much longer. (Translation: "Maybe you should think about getting jobs in the area.") We know the No. 1 rule of car repair is that it will never be quick or cheap. So, through the weekend, the possibility of being stranded in a campground indefinitely, as well as facing bankruptcy, loomed over our heads.

Perhaps it was the stress, but by Saturday evening, we were both struggling with the beginnings of the Mother of all Summer Colds. We could have powered our camper if we could have harnessed our sneezes.

We had reserved our site through Sunday night, but found out on Sunday morning that it was reserved for Monday and the next four nights by someone else, so if we needed to lengthen our stay, we had to move. AND if we were going to move, we needed to do it before the truck went back in Monday morning. Sunday afternoon we moved across the road to an available site. We also realized that we were running low on food and water. Fortunately, we still had ice cream.

By Sunday night, my eyelids were looking like fat little raw sausages, and I was hauling the box of Kleenex around with me. It wasn't really Kleenex but some cheaper off-brand and was like blowing your nose on crepe paper. Besides the itchy, runny eyes, earache, and runny nose, another effect of this cold is that my hair sticks up all wacko. What's with that? When is cold medicine going to address that issue?

Our son's family brought pizza out for supper--much appreciated-- and Sophie's new kayak for a maiden voyage on the lake. The weather was lovely all weekend; we just couldn't enjoy it much.

We settled in that evening with a bad movie and ice cream. But then the mouse for my laptop died. Now, the track pad is fine for browsing the Internet but very awkward for me for writing and editing. My brain wasn't working that great anyway. We doctored ourselves with some honey, cider vinegar, and cayenne pepper elixir and whined a lot.

Monday morning a couple of hours after the truck had been returned to the dealer, the news was as we expected. A major overhaul for big money, but it might be done by close of business Monday; otherwise first thing Tuesday morning. Of course it was noon on Tuesday. By the time we hooked up the camper, dumped the tanks, and stopped on the way home for cough drops, sinus medicine, Kleenex and a new mouse, we arrived home to unhook and unload in the hottest part of the day. Camping anyone?

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<<Previous

Read a Little Christmas

The Parable of the Christmas Lights

What's the point?

Double Dutch Treat

Dutch Treat

Friends, Fairs, and Flies

Cherry-Pickin'

Ruminating on Reunions

A Wild Wrap Up

Get Your Glamp On!

...and then the mouse died

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