Author: Nancy J. Moncrieff

While we waited for our meals to arrive in a restaurant recently, a mother and young son were waiting for theirs, at the next table.  They were in their own little bubble of love.  The little fellow had just placed his hand against his mother’s hand and discovered that his pointer finger was as long… Continue reading Squirrel Ladders

It seems to have been Hat Day at the Thrift Shop yesterday.  Hat after hat found a new head to call home, and some heads found numerous hats to call their own.  So, what sort of hats were people buying, this rainy afternoon?  Summer hats.  Hats to wear on walks around the neighborhood or while… Continue reading Hats and Hellos

Bonang barung.  Sackbut.  Theorbo.  Gaohu and erhu.  Pipa.  The Stearns Collection at the University of Michigan has some twenty-five hundred musical instruments from around the globe and from as far back in time as scholars can trace them.  The collection used to be housed in Hill Auditorium, where it was open for viewing during intermissions… Continue reading Xylopong

Cindy called a couple weeks ago to tell me our friend Rhonda was playing in a concert on the twenty-fourth.  The concert would begin at one o’clock, and Cindy said she’d pick me up at noon.       “I want to bring cookies,” she added.  “Do you think a hundred will be enough?”      I put… Continue reading Concert Cookies

Women from around the world modeled and talked about traditional clothing in their countries of origin during a fashion show at yesterday’s meeting of International Neighbors.  Most like one other in what they chose to wear were the four ladies from Japan, all of whom wore what they described as summer kimonos, made of cotton… Continue reading Fashion in Clothes and Words

We got to see a solar eclipse on Monday.  Weather forecasts leading up to the big day did not look good, but the day dawned bright and clear.  And, while some wispy clouds moved in as the hours went by, they didn’t obscure the sun.      Southeastern Michigan wasn’t in the path of totality, but… Continue reading Eclipse

Daughter Number One is a geocacher.  In fact, she is a geocaching nut.  She loves to geocache.  What, pray tell, is geocaching?  Someone hides a log in a container of some kind and posts the coordinates and hints for others to find it and write their name on the log.  The container may be itty… Continue reading Geocaching Daughter

Did you know camellias grow on trees?  Daughter Number Three identified a glossy-leafed tree with big pink blossoms as a camellia when Daughter Number Three and I asked her about it.  She’d planted it herself.  Once we knew what to look for, we saw camellias everywhere we went in North Carolina.  The same was true… Continue reading Camellias

Umpteen years ago yesterday, when Daughter Number Three was in college, it became incumbent upon her to attend a certain number of concerts.  She dutifully selected one that fit her schedule and showed up at the appointed hour, only to find that the first order of business was for all present to sing “Happy Birthday”… Continue reading Bob’s Shadow

Last night, we ate outside in an igloo.  We met our neighbors at the Corner Brewery, to find they’d snagged us a table in one of the transparent plastic domes.  Their only question was whether we’d be too hot.  This is March.  It’s still winter, and the outdoor temperature was seventy degrees.  With the zippered,… Continue reading Ready or Not