Kelly Learns
A compilation of my columns from the Sunday issues of the Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona.
I’ve been writing an every-other Sunday column for the Daily Courier in Prescott, AZ since late 2020, thanks to the kind encouragement of long-time columnist Ron Barnes, who spent over 30 years contributing his wisdom not only to the newspaper but to many other people and organizations in the Prescott area. He put in some good words to the publisher and editor for me when he decided to retire from column writing. It’s one of those gifts you never knew you wanted and then realize how grateful you are to have it.
The Daily Courier has exclusive rights to my column for 60 days after publication, which is why you might be reading a Christmas column in February. I love writing but seem to need a project and deadline to do it. Hopefully this blog will inspire me to write more. Thanks for stopping by to check out my site!
What time is it?
One of the joys of living in Prescott, Arizona, is not needing to remember the phrase “spring forward, fall back.” Twice a year, while we are enjoying our morning coffee and showing up to church on time, people all over the country are arriving too early or too late for church or work or their breakfast date and trying to remember which buttons to push on the car stereo or the stove to fix the clock. It’s fun to remember how many things we had to reset each spring and fall. The ancient digital alarm clock sitting on our dresser, for those nights when we can’t sleep and want to stare at its giant red numbers changing slowly until morning. The microwave and stove. Our old coffee maker with the built-in clock for brewing coffee in advance. The car stereo with its cryptic combination of...
Kindfulness
I was poking through a local store with my niece and her boyfriend a couple weekends ago while they were visiting between Christmas and New Year’s. They got into a lively debate over the relative merits of the Squishmallow collection on the shelves nearby. “They’re...
Memory card
Time has a strange way of moving. Logically, I know there is the same number of minutes, hours, days and months each year, but sometimes a block of time or an event goes by so quickly and other days drag on. I was thinking about this as I downloaded over 1,600 photos...
Blanketed in kindness
I didn’t expect to see a dozen neatly folded Army, Navy and Air Force polar fleece blankets on the table when I walked into work on Monday. Each blanket was surrounded by 140 hand-tied knots, patiently tied by members of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training...
A lifetime of helping others
If you are lucky enough to make it to the age of 103, it’s likely a lot of people will have special memories about you. When I heard the news that Alton “Al” Cheney had died, some of those moments popped into my head. If you ever met Al, you’d remember him. He’s that...
Sand and snow
We packed up the dogs and headed to the beach a few weeks ago. It may seem odd to visit the ocean in January, but the cheap, off-season prices and the lure of humidity and warmer weather — even if it’s only 60 degrees — sounded good to us. We got off to a later start...
The Great Ice Storm of ’98
I was happy to see the snow coming down last Sunday as I let the dogs out. They bolted down the porch stairs, ripping around the backyard like furry maniacs, kicking up frozen plumes behind them before skidding back up the porch stairs at full speed and staring at me...
A spare resolution
For the past few years, my friend Terri and I have written “Go bowling at Antelope Lanes” as one of our New Year’s resolutions. She is the official keeper of our resolutions from the previous years. When we get together on New Year’s Eve to make fresh ones, we unseal...
Return to sender
When I was a kid, there was nothing I loved more on a hot, sticky Midwest summer day than lying on the living room couch in the air conditioning, reading a book, changing position only when my elbows and back got too stiff from propping me up or my arms fell asleep...
Tree of Remembrance
The blue and yellow strips of paper chains are starting to grow around the Christmas tree in our Marley House chapel. The yellow strips have names carefully written on them: Grandma, Uncle John, Russ, Dorothy, Missy, Kate, Dad. On the blue strips are memories of these...
Memories on the table
The grocery store is filled with reminders we are firmly in the holiday season. Yams soaked in heavy syrup are cozying up next to the marshmallow bags, herbed stuffing has moved next to the turkey gravy and brining kits. Canned cranberries, cream of mushroom soup and...
In the cards
For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of talking to a group of Ms. Haynes’ eighth-graders at Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy about senior and assisted living in this community, sharing a few stories about what it is and why some people end up living...