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. The most epic road trip in my early life saw my family moving from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to Guatemala City, via... Continue Reading →
Mothers of Invention
By Eilene Lyon – May 5, 2020 “Necessity is the mother of invention” – a proverb Why “mother” and not father? I suspect women frequently find themselves in need of a solution to a problem. We tend to be multi-taskers by tradition and that means shortcuts and mechanical aids come in real handy. Plus, we’re... Continue Reading →
Biking Dalmatia
By Eilene Lyon After spending two relaxing days in the old city of Dubrovnik, we took a cab on Sunday afternoon to the harbor at nearby Gruž to board our home for the coming week, the Harmonia. The ship is family built/owned and under contract to the German company, Inselhüpfen (Island Hopping). Though many Harmonia... Continue Reading →
Signs of Life
By Eilene Lyon Spring is well underway in southwest Colorado. Let's see what we can find in the yard and neighborhood. Weeds always seem to get the jump on everything else, especially the mustards. Then there are the usual suspects. Only a few flowers have bloomed in the yard. But more are on the... Continue Reading →
Biking to Vienna – Part 2
By Eilene Lyon Part 1 After a lovely breakfast in the castle at Bad Kruezen, we breezed downhill on the bikes back to Grein where we visited the Stadttheater before heading out again along the Danube. Established in 1791, this is the oldest original theater in all the Germanic countries. All of our short rides... Continue Reading →
The Slide Years: Strange Creatures
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. Little brother had a pet mouse when we lived in Woodbridge, Virginia. It was black, with a twitchy pink nose... Continue Reading →
I Dig Compost
by Eilene Lyon The Putterer warned me several weeks ago that the compost bin was dangerously close to running over (he usually empties the kitchen slop pail). One of my spring rituals is getting the finished compost out to put in my barrels and vegetable garden. We have one of those Darth Vader-style bins that... Continue Reading →
Biking to Vienna – Part 1
By Eilene Lyon On our last morning in Salzburg, we went to pick up our biking gear for a six-day ride to Vienna. That’s when we learned we hadn’t received our vouchers and itinerary from the desk clerk. We had very little time to peruse the materials, drop off our suitcases to be transported to... Continue Reading →
The Slide Years: The Porch
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. I found this picture in the earliest batch of Dad’s slides from 1957. This is his family’s cat from that... Continue Reading →