1. Apricot cutter.  My first job. I was ten and I lasted three whole days before I got sick. When I got well, Mama and Daddy said I didn't have to go back. So, I didn't. 2. Babysitter. Once, I couldn't find a kid when we played hide-and-seek because he shimmied up a tree. That seven-year-old taught me to look up. 3. Newspaper columnist. I was paid 10 cents an inch to write a weekly high school column for the hometown newspaper. Even got a byline. A friend and I started the Baling Wire in our sophomore year,  and I went solo from the last half of my junior year to high school graduation. 4. Tutor. I took both paid and volunteer positions, mostly the latter. 5. Hand Pollinator. Every summer, Mama hired teenagers to hand pollinate cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, corn, and other vegetables for her seed company. She finally hired me the year I graduated from high school. I actually liked the work. 6. Office Clerk.  I had several part-time jobs while goin

Doing research is one of my stronger skills, and something I truly enjoy. Here are 13 questions I looked up recently on the Internet. 1. Will the Saharan Dust cloud reach California?  This annual dust storm crosses over the Atlantic Ocean to eventually cover the Southeast.  2. Are venial and mortal sins still a thing in the Catholic Church? Yup. 3. What can I substitute for buttermilk? One tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with enough milk to make one cup. 4.  What is the COVID19 count in my county? As of yesterday, July 1, we had 239 confirmed cases. More than two weeks ago, we were hovering around 136 cases. Some people say it's because the county has been testing more. I don't think so.    5. How do I use coffee as a fertilizer? Mix 1 cup of coffee ground in a gallon of water. You can also sprinkle the grounds into the soil around a plant.  6. What kind of lemon tree do we have?  Lisbon lemon tree. 7. What's a recipe for a one-layer chocolate cake

1. In December is when I was born. "The doctor said you will be born on this day. And you were." The Mama told me, now and then, not necessarily on my birthday. 2. I was born on the Roman Catholic Church's feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The mother of Jesus was said to appear to a peasant named Juan Diego four times at Tepeyac, Mexico in the 16th century. 3. The same day Catholics were honoring Mary, Major Charles Yeager flew the fastest speed ever back then—about 1,650 miles per hour, a mere Mach 2.44. Shazam! 4. I was born nearly three years after Older Sister died on the same day that she was born.  5. Mama was 32 years old when she gave birth to me. Daddy was 48 years old, and Older Brother was five years old. 6. On the day I was born, Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson celebrated their birthday. So did Bob Barker, Connie Francis, and Dionne Warwick. Bill Nighy turned four on the day I came out of the womb.

1. Who remembers the days of the manual typewriters? Clack, clack, clack. And, if you were a proficient typist, clack clack clackity clickclack clickity. . . ! 2. Anyone else glad he or she took typing in high school? Friends tell me we learned on electric typewriters. I remember the manual typewriters in journalism class. Yup, I felt like a real reporter when I composed my stories on a typewriter. 3. During the days of electric typewriters, a few of my friends typed 100+ words per minute and more with hardly any mistakes.  I dilly-dallied around half that speed with several mistakes. (I hated typing documents that required carbon copies.) 4. The fastest I could type was in the high 70s. I remember coming out of a job interview all psyched about that high score. I thought that I ought to insure my hands. They were, after all, necessary for my livelihood. hahahaha. 5. The other day the husband and I talked with friends over the phone for a couple of hours. That's al

1. Frost! I thought we were done with it. 2. Mama called the icy stuff snow. "There was lots of snow on Marie's roof," she'd say as I stumbled into the kitchen to fix breakfast. She'd be almost done with her big bowl of different cereals mixed together. 3. Now it's me or the Husband that opens the kitchen curtains on chilly mornings to see the icy roof next door. "Lots of snow." 4. Flutter, flutter, flutter. A whole lot of tiny birds flew out of the tree on our front yard. I watched them all fly as one up into the sky, circle about, then take off to the northeast. 5. Then I noticed the light of the rising sun. Wowza! 6. And, then I wondered why everything was drippy wet. I looked up at the roof next door. Frost! 7. For once I was wise and went back into the house to fetch a shawl. And, my camera. Of course. You never know when the fish may be out.   8. This afternoon I asked the Husband, "What kind of guy are you?"