Tag Archives: family

Nov29

A Changing Season

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A Changing Season

“Change is the only constant.” is what I tell myself when I have that feeling of uneasiness or anxiety with a sudden change. There are those times when it feels like my feet are knocked out from underneath me. Other times the change sneaks in through a crack opened door or window. And then there are those seasons when the change is forecasted but not believed until you see that 6 inches of snow covering the outside world. Either way, I remind myself with “God is in control.”

The changing of seasons, autumn to winter came early. The weather forecasters predict a long winter for the Midwest, so it began this weekend. Dean’s 65th birthday celebration along with Thanksgiving were quick on Wednesday and Thursday. All was very nice being together with his three children, their spouses, and the grandchildren for the first half of this holiday weekend. The two Kansas City families arrived home safely before the winter storm started. Last night Dean and I watched both Grand Ole Opry’s 100th anniversary shows which ended about 1:30am this early morning. The heavy, wet snow came after we got to sleep. At least 4 inches of snow covered the landscape, houses, and roads between 2am and 8am. The storm continued with another 2 inches by late morning, then a cold rain followed all afternoon. Brrrsy, for sure. Warm chili is on Deanna’s Cottage’s menu tonight.

Changes in health can happen suddenly or creep up as one ages. Earlier in the spring my back and sciatic pain halted my busy activities to a complete stop with bed rest and medication. The diagnosis of dislocated discs and arthritis in my back and neck areas requires medication and physical therapy. Recently my arthritis has officially been diagnosed the rheumatoid type. My hands have been described as deformed based on the MRI results. Not my hands, God! I use these for so much! I see the rheumatology specialist early January to address this autoimmune condition. This change seems sudden, but I have had joint pain for years. I wonder how long this condition has been present in my body? Despite these medical conditions, my youth is seen and felt from time to time. But not like my great grandson, River. His newness of life is a gift to us all.

Oct31

Another Friday, Five This Month of October

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Another Friday, Five This Month of October

Another Friday, five this month of October. Dean and I have traveled every weekend to visit family in other towns in Missouri. The countryside is lovely. As the month rolls along, each week Autumn shows its colors. Finally, leaves are a glowed after a couple of days of much needed rain. We already spent a couple of September afternoons raking brown withered leaves due to the drought. The hummingbirds long left town earlier in October. Our potted perennials and herbs were moved indoors last week after the threat of a freeze was forecasted. Still no freeze in our neighborhood as of today this last day of October. Writing has been my occupation this Halloween. A fragrant cinnamon apple candle permeates our cottage as we wait for trick-or-treaters to knock on our door this evening. This clear night sky and mild temperatures have brought families out tonight.

Jan19

The Mid-January Landscape

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The Mid-January Landscape

“In winter … temporarily abandoned by my suddenly frigid lover, the garden.” ~ Margaret Roach 

I love my perennials, herbs, and flowers during the warm growing season. The dread of the winter months in Missouri has lessened as I have learned to love staying indoors, too. Time slows down, and I slow down to read and write. This week included a few afternoons to do just that. Besides, some of my green friends come indoors with me for four or five months. My poem “The Neighbor’s Tree” is started on Thursday afternoon while sipping on a cup of Earl Grey tea, watching the birds at the feeders, and gazing at the colorful sunset. I finished the poem when we gathered in Kansas City with family for another indoor weekend. Our granddaughters made valentines for Papa and me. The children did carpet sledding in the living room rather than snow sledding as single-digit temps started our days this weekend and will continue this coming week. A message from the 8-year-old was left in the bedroom we stayed in, “remember do good things”. Out of the mouths of babes. The mid-January landscape dressed in glistening snow was a beautiful sight during our travel eastward to home this afternoon.

The Neighbor’s Tree
The neighbor’s tree this wintry late afternoon
reaches upward to the gray-blue sky, the sun
spotlights its rough-barked limbs outlined in white.
The squirrels scurry back and forth
on a quest for more seeds and nuts
as the light creeps into the evening.
Pinks and purples fill the once blue sky
as shadows dissipate, dimness surrounds,
dusk gently blankets the snowy hillside.
The obscurity, ambiguity, then a glowing light,
the sun’s rays concentrate as a flashlight, 
a January twilight is on the horizon.
Then night takes over minute after minute
with subdued moments leading to a hush,
the songbirds utter quiet rest in their nests.
The neighbor’s tree this late evening
is a perch for this night’s chatty barred owl,
“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”
Anna Marie Gall - January 18, 2025

“Remember do good things.” ~ Elise Gall

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” ~ Japanese Proverb

Nov7

My Fill These Autumn Days

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My Fill These Autumn Days

Our October and now November is filled with family and community activities. A good busy. Outdoor family photos were taken the last weekend in October despite the very chilly morning. We could see our breathes! The trees were gorgeous greens, yellows, oranges, and reds with the location not far from our daughter’s and son’s-in-law house in Kansas City. Color coordinating credits to our Kansas City daughter. We experienced God’s creation in the vibrant autumn colors of nature. Capturing smiles and all twenty-four eyes of twelve Gall family members looking towards the photographer was a chore. She did an excellent job.

“November is the … changeling between crimson October and cold white December.” ~ Margaret Atwood

My oldest daughter and grandson, their two little dogs and one cat are staying with us temporarily. A big change in our household. The cottage’s seams are bursting with animal activity. Our grandson, Eli is homeschooled and started coming to my work one morning a week as a volunteer at the senior center. The older citizens love him! Our daughter, Rachel has been collecting autumn leaves and pressing them between wax paper in books. My disabled daughter is seeking a house for three people and three fur babies in St. Francis or Jefferson County. If you know of any decent places for rent or sale, please message me my FB friends.

Dean and I purchased a Little Free Library box from the non-profit. Dean set it up on a wooden post in the front yard, and I partial filled it with books. I need go through boxes for more children’s books to place in it. My hopes that our neighbors enjoy reading as much as we do. The past few days I am busy with Rho Chi, the local chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, an organization I joined late September. We are preparing for the annual St. Jude auction. I am helping with the raffle baskets and decorating miniature Christmas trees for this coming weekend’s auction. We ladies made time for a fun evening at The French Creperie where we made sweet and savory crepes, learned a few French words, and just had fun being silly. A great group of ladies with good intentions, works worth the energy and benefit the community.

We had been in a drought for months and finally received much needed rain. Although, eight to ten inches in the past forty-eight hours are not ideal. Swollen creeks and tributary rivers flooded in the lowline areas. More rain coming this Saturday. The weather folks say the bigger rivers will not flood. Praying for the safety of our neighbors in our town and nearby areas. Our flooding is minor compared to what the folks in western North Carolina experienced late in September. In a few days Dean and I will travel over a 4-day weekend to take collected winter clothing and blankets to Asheville, North Carolina. Not sure what all God has in mind, but we will be there and ready. Dean and I are equipped and are enough with God’s guidance and strength.

“I am calm. I am grateful for this day. I find joy in ordinary places. I am resilient. I am enough”

~ Mary Davis 

“The scent of cinnamon and cloves

Round pumpkins and crisp, sweet apples

A world turned ruddy in rich shades of orange and gold

Puffing chimneys, sweaters, warm drinks

And leaves, gently leaving one home for another—

Autumn.” ~ Laura Jaworski 

Oct13

Crispy October’s Preparations

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Crispy October’s Preparations

We have had several mornings with crisp air which means the first frost is soon. Today’s shifting air is the telltale sign. This evening’s weather forecast is predicting frost for Wednesday morning. While there is daylight, this afternoon Dean and our 14-year old grandson, Eli brought our perennials inside the basement. Wrangled are the two granddogs and grandcat to keep them inside while the yard gates and basement door swing open every few minutes for each ceramic pot brought in. We have 15 pots of greenery living in the basement for the next 5 months. One pot fell over and broke on the basement floor. Dean bought a plastic replacement pot as this arrowhead plant is ginormous. The plant light has a timer placed on it for daytime light. A garden hose is attached downstairs for watering. Unfortunately, we have no space for our green friends upstairs in our cottage home except for my small pots of kitchen herbs. This week I will snip branches off of the thyme, basil, mint, and sage plants, dry the leaves, and store in glass jars.

We have had a few family members with us this week. Canine and feline included. This morning while listening to a fellow writer group member’s TEDx talk on water footprint, she said the word “water” many times.  Not sure how many times, but it was enough to catch the attention of our visiting diabetic granddog beagle, Beatrice, who has an unquenchable thirst for water. She perked up every time she heard “water’.  We use the Spanish word, “agua” or “H2O” around this aging pet.  My daughter said it was karma for every time Beatrice barked for more water. Then this evening I started my colonoscopy prep, drinking 8 ounces of this stuff every 15 minutes until gone, 64 ounces! Beatrice is mooching for it! If this dog would only know what would be in her near future if she drank this water-based solution! I know, and I am dreading the next 8 hours! All a part of getting older! Crap, literally! Prayers, please, for these preparations and the procedure on Monday morning. There is that fall margarita I’d rather be drinking right now.

Jul7

Summer Weekend Rest

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Summer Weekend Rest

We are blessed to have all our children, grandchildren, and one surviving parent living in our home state, Missouri. Travel for visits with them are frequent. We had my sister in town for a week in June. The Kansas City family was in town last weekend, so some local outings were ensued and enjoyed. We spent a Sunday afternoon in Farmington to take my youngest grandson, Eli and his buddy out for lunch. We met our newest granddog, Tillie, a stray puppy with the most gorgeous blue eyes that wandered onto the farm. This week was my granddaughter, Libby’s 20th birthday, Dean and I’s14th wedding anniversary, and the 4th of July, and we chose to stay in our hometown except for yesterday. We ventured out to our favorite neighboring river towns of Hermann and Washington, MO. The recent summer rains and storms have the Missouri River up and over the banks in some places. Tributary creeks are swelling into the fields and yards as well. Some holiday activities were cancelled because of the flooding, but less fires started with fireworks. Cabooses and train stations became our entertainment.

These weekends while Dean and I are at home, we are able to get some chores done. Dean’s parent’s home sold last month, so no more emptying cabinets, drawers, purging, and throwing away. Now we sort through the treasured items Dean brought home as mementos of his childhood and heritage. He built a shelf in the basement to organize these items. The Japanese stemware his father brought home while serving in the Army will be placed in our China hutch. We added a handsome wood bench to our living room. A worktable for planting and building projects sets under the carport as well as an old tool cabinet.

Yes, somewhere in between chores, rest and relaxation have been included in our weekends. With summer travels at a minimal, it is possible. For myself, writing is relaxing. Just about every weekday afternoon after cooking for the local seniors, I get a short nap, then write until dinner needs to get started. Some evenings and weekends include writing as well. My first book, a memoir of recipes, short stories, and poems has been my primary focus these past few months. I am just about finished with it after three years of plugging away. I promise myself, one last recipe, one last short story, and then the photos. Writing can be an addiction. Dean is my first reader, then I will ask a couple of others before going to a professional editor. The publisher and the printer are to follow. I will let you know when my first book is available.

May31

Weather Be Nice!

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Weather Be Nice!

Memorial Day weekend golf ball-size hail dropped from the dark thunder clouds above causing some major damage. We were on the other side of the state emptying Dean’s parent’s house getting it ready to be put on the market. Kansas City had some strong winds and damage, too. At home green leaves were knocked down by the hail and they were scattered all over the lawn and rooftops. It looked like autumn except the leaves were green instead of red, orange, and yellow. Our elephant ear plant looks like a palm tree now with its split leaves. My potted annuals lost a lot of blooms and leaves. One of our kitchen windows has a crack in it. One of the bird feeder domes was fractured and had a big hole in it. I am sure a few critters were knocked unconscious if not killed from those ice balls. That kind of hail could kill a person if hit in the head hard enough. Fortunately, we put our vehicle under the carport. But many auto dealer lots are having hail damage sales with their inventory. More weather is coming tonight and hope that it is not severe. Ready to take shelter. Weather, be nice to our plant life and critters, please!

“All I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family.” ~ Raffi

Summertime pleasures such as a cup of cherry tea, a bowl of delectable dark cherries, Peter Rabbit brick garden art, an ice cream cone, and a new friend to get to know are wonderful distractions from the storms and the dumpster full of 50-years’ worth of papers, rusty tools, and broken furniture pieces. It took several weekends before this Memorial Day weekend as well as 10 adults working for the 3-day weekend to empty most of the home’s contents. I promise my children and grandchildren I will not leave this much “stuff” behind when I leave this world. Repurpose, throw away, and/or giveaway the excess now. The family gathering did give us an opportunity to look at old photos and reminisce. This summer I hope to finish my memoir, a collection of poems, short stories, and recipes that tell my life’s story. I cannot believe I have almost 100 recipes, most my own culinary creations that have been favorites amongst my family, friends, and students over the years.

What will you leave behind? What do you want to be remembered for?

Mar25

When The Heart Aches

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When The Heart Aches

“I’m fixin’ to get into some trouble. You comin’?” the meme says. When the heart aches, sometimes there is the temptation to escape it all and bring company along with. Get into some kind of trouble while having fun. Anything is better than this pain. Truly, my heart is aching, but I am not aiming to get into trouble. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus too much to go that route. Ready to have happy times again. It had been 4 weeks since Dean and I’s mental and body rejuvenating vacation to the southeast coast. A baby shower for a beloved niece brought some joy, and for Dean guy time at the shooting range with his brothers, sons, and father this past weekend. My heart still aches for the loved ones whose mental illness leads them astray. My heart aches to witness painful steps, one after the other of a faithful mother. My heart aches to see poverty rob a person from becoming all they can. Do you see and feel that kind of heart ache, too?

Then there is loneliness sometimes even in the midst of all the family and work obligations. I have done this thing called family life for so many years. Not always a good wife, mother, daughter. But tried to make family my priority. To be honest, family and friends fall short like I do. We are human, and all need Jesus. Go down memory lane, I realize decisions I would have made differently as a young adult, wife, mother, grandmother, adult child, employee, and neighbor. “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending,” wrote C.S. Lewis.

Jesus, heal my aching heart. Comfort those who my heart aches for. Bring them through another day. Let them know Your love. God, show me what You want me to spend time on today, in this winter season of my life. I may be getting older, but I am still willing to do Your will. Good works do not replace home life. Family and friends do not replace Jesus. Jesus. We need You.

The recently deceased country singer Toby Keith presented this song before his passing. Words so eloquent…

Don’t let the old man in
I wanna leave this alone
Can’t leave it up to him
He’s knocking on my door

And I knew all of my life
That someday it would end
Get up and go outside
Don’t let the old man in

Many moons I have lived
My body’s weathered and worn
Ask yourself how would you be
If you didn’t know the day you were born

Try to love on your wife
And stay close to your friends
Toast each sundown with wine
Don’t let the old man in

Many moons I have lived
My body’s weathered and worn
Ask yourself how would you be
If you didn’t know the day you were born

When he rides up on his horse
And you feel that cold bitter wind
Look out your window and smile
Don’t let the old man in

Look out your window and smile
Don’t let the old man in

Feb4

In All The Details

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In All The Details

We have been staying indoors the majority of these winter days. It has been either bitter cold or a damp cold most days. Dean and I both have been under the weather. Dean fought bronchitis and strep throat. I have had a month of a sinus infection and hoarseness of my voice, on 2 rounds of antibiotics with a steroid added this week to take care of the inflammation and excessive drainage. This is my body’s allergic reaction to the subzero and single-digit temperatures even if out in it for 2 minutes to get to my preheated car. Yes, Dean warms my car every weekday morning, before I drive for 8 minutes to senior center so I can prepare lunch for the area seniors and disabled. The groundhog didn’t see his shadow, so he promises an early Spring. I surely hope Phil is right; otherwise, this leap year February will be an extra-long month for multi reasons. This morning, I write from the inside my in-law’s lakeside home in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The lingering rain clouds cast a mist on the bare landscape. No sunrise to view other than the black becoming various shades of gray with a tinge of blue. The Canadian geese “honk-honk” greetings have not happened yet this morning. 

Dean’s family packs and purges items from this 50-year residence. We will empty its contents in hopes in sell the lakeside house by summer. After dividing up the heirloom pieces, maybe an estate sale before it is all said and done. Already have a willing buyer approach us yesterday. This house is one big dossier, collections of papers, documents, and photos. The stories we could tell from these piles of overseas love letters written while our father served, bank statements, grocery lists, receipts, advertisements, books, keys, keys, and more keys. They kept everything! We sort through to decide what is pertinent and what is junk. The photos are priceless, but so many! Many have years marked on them, and some without names. In all the details, we hope that the important matters like faith, love, and people were indeed their focus, and for the generations they leave behind also be our focus today. 

This month of February is the month for love. Not just romantic love, but God’s love for humankind. How can we share the love God freely gave us with the person we meet today? I pray a shower of God’s love comes down on you this month, one that warms your heart. Dean and I will end this month on the warmer southeastern coastline for a much-needed reprieve. Until then, keep sharing God’s creative love. I will be, too.

“In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.”  ~ Ben Aaronovitch

Dec26

Grace To Begin Again

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Grace To Begin Again

“Somehow there’s always grace to begin again.” ~ Ann Voskamp. 

This year 2023 has been a rough one. We left 2022 praying for miracles and depending on God’s gift of grace unending.  If you may remember, my oldest daughter, Rachel and her family lost their home in a fire Christmas night of 2022.  Many compassionate people rallied to provide and support them in their plight. The insurance company has been very slow, and partial settlement funds have come.  They have made home with a trailer situated on my son-in-law’s parent’s St. Francois County ranch, living a minimalist lifestyle.  The lot the burned house was on still needs to be sold. The family battles flashbacks and sleep deprivation since the fire.  Please continue in prayers for Rachel, Mick, Hannah, Ella, and Eli. “The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master,” author Robin Sharma tells us. Other family news … Granddaughter, Hannah moved into her first apartment. My son, Ben moved to Springfield, MO this spring, and seems to enjoy being there.  My Elisabeth and husband, Mark have taken quite a liking for insects, and have a few terrariums housing their new pets.  Libby and Brendan are occupied with work and school. Dean’s youngest son, Rainer and wife, Erica had another son, Jeremiah on March 3 who joins 3-year-old Jefferson.  It is a joy having them just 25 minutes away.  Dean’s oldest son, AJ and family, Nancy, Elise, and CJ keep busy with work and school.  Little CJ started preschool this year.  Dean’s daughter, Liz and husband, Vince keep up with work and are wonderful helpmates for their families. Most work projects at our St. Charles cottage had been curtailed with our families’ immediate needs in 2023.  I managed to keep alive some potted herbs, and successfully grew Mexican sage and eucalyptus this year. Back at it in 2024 for our cottage, our rental house, and Dean’s parents’ house.

Dean’s mother passed away in October.  She had been battling ill health and leukemia for at least a year.  We typically visit the Kansas City family every 4 – 6 weeks.  But between September and November, we went back and forth to the KC side of the state nine out of ten weekends with her end-of-life details, funeral, and caring for Dean’s father. Dean’s father agreed to a premier assisted living apartment in STL, which has made it much easier for his sons to visit regularly.  Besides coffee & tea stops in obscure towns and villages while going back and forth to Farmington and Lee’s Summit this year, weekend getaways by ourselves or with family or friends included Rolla, Charleston, and Branson, MO; Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Tennessee for the Clarksville Writer’s Conference in June; a day in Glasgow, MO; another day in Lincoln Land, IL; a week away to the beautiful North Carolina Appalachians and Nashville, TN; a flight and an overnight in Texas for Dean’s aunt’s funeral in October; and a holiday weekend in the Wisconsin Dells.

Dean still loves serving the researchers who come into the National Archives military record center.  He has been with this government agency for over 15 years. Dean talks about “retirement” in 4-1/2 years, but I cannot see him stopping the beloved “hunt” with the research he loves doing.  Good chance a small research gig will be in Dean’s future after retirement.  Author Gretchen Rubin writes, “That’s my ideal life.  Doing work worth doing.”  I found regular weekday part-time employment worth doing.  Since May I have been working as a culinary professional for a non-profit organization that serves the senior and disabled communities with meals-on-wheels and services. The earlier full-time job was too much for me between the lack of adequate training at the credit union and running on fumes from weekend trips back and forth to Farmington to assist my daughter after the fire.  Early autumn, the community college built a new space for culinary classes.  I was asked to consult on necessary equipment and space design for the “Studio Kitchen”, and this new space is where I facilitated two cookie baking classes this holiday season.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work,” Thomas Edison is quoted. I continue to take opportunities to submit my poetry, short stories, and recipes to various online publications. Some of my writings are selected and published, plenty others denied.  I participated in my first poetry reading in Eureka Springs, Arkansas early in 2023, and attended two other readings.  In 2024 I will present a WCDH fundraiser workshop “The Essence of Lemon, Herbs, and Writing” on a date TBD.  I facilitated this same workshop at a local lavender farm this past summer and loved the interaction of the participants. I joined a writers’ circle with some folks I met at the Clarksville conference.  Every chance I have to be a part of the writing community, I take it. Huge strides have been made in a culinary themed book I am writing.  “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you,” author Beatrix Potter said. More recipes, poems, and short stories keep being added.  A labor of love. I didn’t know this introvert had that much to share with the world.  Somedays I prefer solitude rather than talk to people.  If I am quiet long enough, I can hear.  “Sound is ephemeral…Sound is generative…Listening opens us to the wonders of communication and creativity,” shared keynote speaker David George Haskell at the Clarksville writers’ conference. I work things out with words in the quiet, writing them down and reading others’ words.  Other days I need to have that meaningful conversation with a friend, family member, co-worker, or senior client. “Writers and artists work in the loneliest of all professions, inside our heads”, eMerge co-editor Charles Templeton wrote in a newsletter.

Fluffy pillows and comforters layered on a settee, piled reading books on the floor besides, and a cup of hot cocoa lathered with whipping cream atop … this is what I look forward to this winter which is predicted to be long and cold, the snow shovel kind according to the persimmon seeds.  I will watch the snow and songbirds through the frosty windows while snug warm under blankets, listening to the quiet hush, occasional chirps, and let the words flow on paper.  “Live from the abundant place that you are loved, and you won’t find yourself begging others for scraps of love,” Christian author, Lysa TerKeurst encourages us. Ann Voskamp reminds us, “Whatever rock and tender place the bruised soul finds itself between, it’s witness there right into the face of the rock we’re facing.  There is no such thing as salvation by romance, or by achievement, or by dream life, or by any good behavior, or by itself or anyone else … No choice you or anyone else makes has the power to make you unchosen … What you want most deeply is to be deeply wanted as a person, valued and needed, seen and safe and known.”  Simply, God the Father chose you, salvation is through the gift of Jesus alone, and nothing can separate you from the love of God.  The Holy Spirit lives in you and me.  I pray you know these truths, live them, and share them.

“Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.” ~ Romans 8:38