The Slide Years: Sometimes Bad Is Bad

By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. You may be looking at this photo and saying "What the...?" When Dad got the box of slides back from... Continue Reading →

September 12, 2019 32

The Slide Years: Virginia Beach

By Eilene Lyon After we returned to the U.S. from France in the early 60s, we moved into base housing at Ft. Lee, near Petersburg, Virginia. That's where we met the Moores. Melinda (on the right) became my dearest friend for the time we lived there. I don't know who buried me, Steve, and Melinda... Continue Reading →

August 22, 2019 26

E-I-E-I-O

By Eilene Lyon I love County Fair time. It’s the only time of year I get to hang with barnyard animals – and I’m not just talking the four-legged-and-feathered gang. Since our fairgrounds are right in town, and it’s tourist season, I took the opportunity to ride my bike along the scenic river trail to... Continue Reading →

August 11, 2019 31

The Instant Tree

Week 30: #52 Ancestors – Easy By Eilene Lyon (Satire) Decades ago my paternal grandmother, Reatha Halse, gave me some ancestry information. It included a Halse-Drake-Murphy collection of family trees. Cousin Earl Drake compiled all these descendants from our immigrant ancestors for several generations. Handy dandy! Her bundle also included a pedigree for her Crandall... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2019 46

Laundry Soap

Week 24: #52 Ancestors – Dear Diary By Eilene Lyon So far I’ve only come across one true diary in the family, which I wrote about last year in Reatha Gusso, 1932. For an entire year, my grandmother kept a daily journal without missing a day. To our knowledge, it’s the only one she ever... Continue Reading →

June 16, 2019 60

The Vase (2018)

By Eilene Lyon Some people are collectors. I used to be, but 18 years of being an Army brat cured me, with one exception: books. I will always have books. Other people have things, part of a collection or not, that never get used. Maybe it’s a formal living room no one ever visits (think:... Continue Reading →

May 14, 2019 45

Creative Counting in Cribbage

By Eilene Lyon "Aren't you going to count your pairs?" "Oh yes. Pair, two. Pair, four (cupping breasts), plus a pair of legs, a pair of arms, a pair of ears..." "I don't think you can peg points for those." [Neck-and-neck at the finish line - player drops a queen] "Seventeen" "Ohhhhnnnnggg!" "What was that... Continue Reading →

August 18, 2018 13

The Short Load

It’s been a while since I shared one of Smitty’s stories with you. This was written on May 24, 1991, in Portland, Oregon. My grandparents got married about the time Clare was graduated from the University of Idaho. It was in the depths of the Great Depression. Smitty had graduated earlier with an electrical engineering... Continue Reading →

July 22, 2018 13

The Danger of Solo Road Trips

By Eilene Lyon When I go on one of my "Dead Ancestor" tours across the country, I take along a micro-cassette recorder. I see a lot of interesting things as I'm driving around and don't want to forget them. It's also helpful for remembering where I went and what I did there. Later, I transcribe... Continue Reading →

July 19, 2018 24