November 26 Valley Life column

November 26 Valley Life column
Running errands the weekend before Thanksgiving, I said to my husband, “According to the paper, permits for Christmas trees go on sale today.” When he didn’t respond, I added, “The weather’s so nice, I bet you could drive right up to a tree this year.”

He kept his eyes on the road and silently maneuvered the truck around a corner.

So I said, “You wouldn’t even need a snowmobile, or to ski in. I bet there’s not even a foot of snow on the ground.”

Since he still had no comment, I repeated, “Bet you could drive right up to a tree.”

“Probably could,” he finally said. We passed the Jerome Golf Course and he became more talkative. “The weather’s so nice I should be golfing.” To this, I merely grunted.

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November 19 Valley Life column

November 19 Valley Life column

I don’t have a large family, so we don’t gather around the Thanksgiving table, hold hands and recite the things for which we are thankful. If I did, here are the things I would include this year:

A roof over my head and a bed to sleep in.
The unconditional love of my pets.
The clothes on my back, the shoes on my feet, and the food on the table.
Someone to come home to.

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November 12 Valley Life column

November 12 Valley Life column

This week I drove by a local nursery and noted its sign. "Plant now for spring color," the sign read and instead of thinking about tulips or daffodils, I immediately thought about garlic.

This isn't unusual since I love garlic. I love it on pizza. I love it in pasta. I even have a recipe for bug spray that calls for garlic. In

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November 5 Valley Life column

November 5 Valley Life column

Now that it's November, I should be busy winterizing my yard. I should be digging the carrots, planting garlic and putting away the hoses, but it's hard to get motivated to button things up when my flowers are still blooming. With night temperatures hovering in the low 30s, the petunias, geraniums and daisies continue to fill my yard with color, and I'm reluctant to uproot them and toss them into the compost heap while they're still so cheery.

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October 29 Valley Life column

October 29 Valley Life column

"How do you like your new home?" my Caldwell friend asked recently.

"I love it," I said. "But just the other day, I noticed these strange flickering lights."

"Do they bounce?" my friend asked. "If they do, maybe your house is haunted."

When I laughed she said, "It's not funny. I had bouncing lights in my old house, and I'm convinced it was haunted." She went on to tell the tale like this:

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