Sophie's Story

   I wasn't planning on doing this much writing about current events, however, there are certain topics I simply can't ignore. Some of the recent articles about the first woman accusing the nominee for the Supreme Court of sexual misconduct have caught my attention. (Yes, I'm aware I'm two accusers behind and that she is testifying today.)    There are two things in particular that have me slightly steamed. One is the question of how she could remember her assault when he cannot and denies that it happened. The other is the question of why she didn't report it.    I am going to answer those two questions today using an incident that happened to me. While what happened to me is not the same as what happened to her, I think there is enough similarity to make my point.    When I was in seventh grade I was poked and groped from chest to waist by two or three boys during a home economics class. I was sitting in front of the tea...

   C and I are taking a little trip. Last year we went to the North Shore with Sarah and Dean. We had such a good time that we decided to do it again. This time we'll be on our own. One of the benefits of working part time is that our weekend is whenever we want it to be. We were able to easily make a reservation.    We packed up the car and headed out. We took I 35 E and headed north toward Duluth. It was a nice drive. It was cloudy, but not rainy and just the right temperature. I brought my knitting as usual. I'm working on knitting T-shirt yarn into thick ropes that I can sew into a basket. I managed to knit one ball of T-shirt yarn while we were driving. I like doing things like that because it makes me feel like I'm being productive.   Another thing I decided to do was text my new friend, Carolina, while we were travelling. She and her husband and daughter just moved to Minnesota a few months ago. One thing I have been trying to do is educate her about ...

   One of the stories in the news lately is the growing number of Roman Catholic priests being accused of sexual abuse. Along with this are also accusations against bishops and other Catholic clergy leaders who have covered up the actions of the accused priests.    The first major story I saw on this subject is the grand jury investigation in  Pennsylvania earlier this year. They have discovered that over 1,000 people were victimized over a period of 70 years by more than 300 priests. There are calls for all states to conduct investigations of the Catholic church in an effort to find additional abuse cases and find out how those cases are being handled.    The Pennsylvania grand jury story has spawned numerous articles on related topics. There are articles about people who were investigated after accusing a priest of abuse. There are articles claiming that there was a large detailed coverup of...

     I like to wear hats. Sometimes I get complimented on the hat that I'm wearing. Many times I will hear something like, "I would like to wear hats, but I just don't look good in them."  I never understand women who say this. That makes as much sense as saying, "I don't wear tops because I don't look good in them." Just like there are many kinds of tops, from crop tops to long tunic tops, there are many kinds of hats.     I believe that all women look good in hats. It's just a matter of finding the right hat. I've looked at several charts and found that there are 12-15 different basic styles of hats.     Most women see a hat in a store or on a rack and try it on. They look in the mirror, dislike what they see and take the hat off. Then they assume that they don't look good in hats. The fact is, they don't look good in the hat they tried on.   Not every woman looks good in every style of hat. There are seve...

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 KJV     A few weeks ago I got an email from a friend of mine. He lives and farms in a small town in North Dakota. He wrote about harvest beginning, crop prices and vacations taken over the summer. He wrote about his daughters who play in sports programs at their school.    He also wrote about reporting a member of the high school football team who was using chewing tobacco. This is against the team rules and the player received a suspension. The player involved is as a lineman and a good player. My friend wrote that he had received angry emails and a lot of flack. he usually goes to the football games to help the the sideline chains. He did not go that week. (Maybe he is still staying away. I don't know.)    One of the things my friend wrote is that he is being considered the bad guy. That really str...

     C bought several devices for our cell phones earlier today. He got some pop-up stands and a couple of devices that allow the phones to be mounted on the dashboard of the car.    The pop-up and mounting that he bought for me were pretty simple. The pop up sticks to the back of the phone. The mount sticks to the dashboard of the car and the pop-up slips into the mount. No problem.    The ones he bought for himself are a little fancier. The pop up spins and can also be used to organize cords. The mounting device clips to the vent and is magnetic. Both came with several parts. There were no assembly instructions in the package only a picture on the back. The picture isn't very helpful.   The picture of the mounting device shows four small round magnets. There were none in the package just two things that looked like small mirrors.  The package was sealed so there is no way the magnets could have dropped out...

  My hat collection is now complete. C, the excellent husband that he is, bought me a fascinator.    For those of you who don't know, a fascinator is a type of headgear. You know those crazy looking things precariously perched on British women's heads at weddings. Those are fascinators. For the record, mine is very tasteful and will never be worn at some bizarre angle.   I was a little curious about how this came to be called a fascinator so I did a little digging online. It turns out that the origin of the modern fascinator was a bit more modest. According to several sources a fascinator, (although that word was not used at the time) was actually a crocheted or loosely knitted hood or scarf made of lace, wool or soft light yarn. Gradually over the years, more decorations were added to them until they became what we see today. One source I consulted referred to them as a hat decoration without the hat.   I had always wanted a fascinator ...