Posts from the ‘Miscellaneous’ category

a semi-circle of US flags flying against a light blue sky.

Happy Fourth of July!

One shot down, one to go

One side benefit of The 14-Year-Old being older than I think she can possibly be, is the fact that she is eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. We took her last week to one of our county’s mass vaccination sites. One shot down, one to go.

Mural displays the words It's a Beautiful Day painted in white in a rounded all-caps font against a black background. The artist has painted a multi-layered shadow for each of the letters in the words out of the colors of the rainbow. The effect is to make the words look like they've been launched into space, trailing rainbow flames. (Sorry this is a terrible description.)

Languishing our way through 2021, coping skills for kids, and other news of the week

All week I kept stumbling across useful articles and podcasts about this almost-there-but-not-quite-yet moment in the pandemic. Here are three of my favorites on muddling through this moment in the pandemic; helping middle schoolers establish and evolve critical coping skills to manage their stress, anger, and anxiety; and pandemic changes parents actually want to keep.

white blossoms on a tree branch against a bright blue sky

Detecting and neutralizing misinformation, a couple of book reviews, and other tidbits that crossed my desk this week: A Caterpickles miscellany*

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about how to detect and neutralize misinformation this week –and how to teach my daughter to do the same. Here are a few of the articles, blog posts, and books I’ve found most helpful.

Well, that sure was something

Before I resume business as usual here on Caterpickles, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge what an utterly disorienting moment we are living through…

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Someone on Twitter commented that living through 2020 had given them a new appreciation for the relentless partying that broke out during the Roaring Twenties after WWI and the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. Living through 2020 also made me think about the Roaring 20s differently. I finally understand why so many women in vintage flapper photos are giving such achingly sad side-eye.

Closeup of an evergreen bush with small red berries.

Taking stock of 2020

It’s the quiet time between Christmas and New Year’s, when we are supposed to reflect on the year past and make plans for the year to come. I’ll do my best.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! Thank you for spending another year with us here at Caterpickles. May this holiday season bring some measure of peace and joy to you and yours.

“What was it like to get a mortgage in 1875?”

About 20 years ago, my grandparents gave me a set of old family journals from 1871-1952. Mixed in with all sheep, pig, apple, and pork accounts are surprisingly interesting narratives of daily life in upstate New York in the late 1800s. This week, my great-great-grandfather goes to Rochester for a second mortgage, and comes away feeling a bit… swindled.

Hello, world!

What I’ve been doing this month instead of blogging: participating in NaNoWriMo, orchestrating a veggie-free Thanksgiving, and booting up the Christmas spirit.