Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 24

The Treatise on Bales of Hay by Liz Flaherty

It's a do-over, on account of I'm tired this week. But it's also a favorite, and I still love those bales of hay. I hope you enjoyed the fair this week! - Liz

I feel kind of cheated sometimes. Drawing ideas for columns from the news is something every columnist I know of does. Or used to. The only ones who can do that anymore are political or religious writers. They know they will have support from those whose beliefs coincide with theirs and will be called names and have their intelligence and e...

The Week We Worried by Liz Flaherty

It was an idea. I got it when I was lying in bed sometime between midnight and four in the morning worrying about my kids and grandkids, my brother and my sisters-in-law, my husband, climate change, politics, aging, health, my energy level...did I mention my grandkids?

I thought, in the midst of this, when I'd turned over three or four times, squinted at the clock, and sighed with a depth that should have shaken the bed, that it would be a funny blog post. In the light of day, after all, I seldom...

It's my job... by Liz Flaherty

Do you suppose everyone wishes they were different? I'm not one who hates myself--other than my weight and when my hair's frizzy, but those are different things--and there are things I really...you know...like about myself. I like that I write, that I'm a feminist, that my faith is solid, that I'm fairly empathetic, that I accept and actually pretty much embrace the mental and emotional detritus of aging. (The physical, not so much.)

But I really hate that I'm scared of snakes and spiders and tha...

About Complaining by Liz Flaherty

I think summer's here. I've complained about 47 times this week about being hot and no one's done anything about it yet. That's a problem with complaining, I've learned. Something else is that you need to be selective about it.

1. Only complain to someone who can do something about the issue, preferably someone whose job it is and who's being paid to listen, apologize, and fix. 

2. Only complain once about any particular thing--47 times is just way over the top. 

3. Don't complain about the weather...

Bob Bryan: The Myth, The Legend, The Writer by Debby Myers

There are people in your life you meet and size up. They make an impression from your first interaction. Often, it turns out to be completely wrong! I met Bob Bryan 20 years ago in 2003 when I went to see Driving Miss Daisy at Ole Olsen Memorial Theater. I’d been involved with the theater for five years, but I’d not been introduced to Bob. I didn’t like him.

Seven years would go by before we’d cross paths again. I was holding auditions for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which required 13 men. I...

Band of Brothers by Cheryl Reavis

It is no secret that Cheryl Reavis, besides being a RITA award winner--four times--and a nominee several others, is one of my favorite writers. Like many from our generation, she has a soft spot for soldiers. What better time than Memorial Day to share that one of her best, Band of Brothers, is available for a limited time (June 1-15) for 99 cents. If you haven't read it before, don't miss this chance. If you have read it, go ahead and read it again--it'll be good for your heart. - Liz
Band of Br...

The Top Shelf by Liz Flaherty

Yesterday at Kroger, I couldn't reach the top shelf. Or maybe it was the next to the top shelf. As I stretched, trying to make five-two-and-a-half into something it isn't, a voice from behind me said, "May I help you?" A young woman in the six-foot range with dark-framed glasses and a smile reached for what I needed, and I told her she made me think of my granddaughters. Like their mother, they are tall girls who get things off top shelves for others. 
This is Memorial Day weekend. It's the week ...

Down Memory "Lane" with Donna Cronk #WriterMonday

Forty-six years ago this spring, I graduated from Union County High School in east-central Indiana. Since then, a small cedar chest has gone with me everywhere I’ve lived. It remains a minor player on my heirloom roster, yet it hasn’t strayed far, and I’ve never considered ditching it.

Sometimes I keep it inside a nightstand where it rounds up odds and ends such as a packet of tissues; a pen and notepad, a tube of hotel hand cream. Other times it roosts on a closet shelf, sheltering back-up pair...

The Mortician's Son by Brad McClain

Brad and Frank--Brad's the one in the blue shirt

My thanks to Brad McClain, the Mortician's Son, for this week's Window Over the Sink. I know many of you saw this essay on Facebook. I hope you'll read it again--it's worth the time. Brad is a kind and compassionate soul. He plays piano and organ beautifully. He's also funny, an excellent pet dad, and...did I mention funny? He has a good heart and I am proud to know him. - Liz
I was five or six years old when I met Emma. She lived at Miller’s Merry ...

Keep Them Safe by Liz Flaherty

Early in the week, I dropped my teacher kids and several dozen DeRozier's donuts off at school in the morning because of vehicle malfunctions.

I admit to a love for the school campus where we live--it's been a part of my life ever since the high school was built way, way back in the last century. It's changed a lot over the years. More buildings, including what former elementary principal Don Davis used to call the castle on the hill--more athletic fields, more driveways. There are enough directi...