Category Archives: Nostalgia

Dewey

Posted on 14 April 2015 by Jennifer

A train car I saw about a month ago, when we still had snow.  My dad was drafted in 1951 into the Army during the Korean conflict.  He tried, unsuccessfully, to argue for a II-C exemption, on the basis of … Continue reading →

Posted in Dad, Family, Nostalgia | Leave a comment

B is for Banana Bread

Posted on 6 April 2015 by Jennifer

My mother made one banana bread recipe my whole life. She learned it from her mother, who got it from the 4-H cookbook that was printed in the 1950s sometime. It requires Crisco, 4 ripe bananas, 4 eggs, sugar, less … Continue reading →

Posted in Grief, Hendrum, Mama, Nostalgia | 2 Comments

A is for The Andrea Doria

Posted on 5 April 2015 by Jennifer

Why not start the alphabet out with an enormous tragedy? It is my way. My father was a sailor, serving in the Navy from 1951-1955. He once told me the story of passing the Andrea Doria while on the open … Continue reading →

Posted in Hendrum, Nostalgia | 1 Comment

Travels with Myra, part I

Posted on 15 March 2015 by Jennifer

Since that last post was so well-received, and since she is on my mind all the time, I thought I’d post a story about one of the adventures Myra and I had. We had quite a few, over the years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Hendrum, Love, Mama, Nostalgia | 2 Comments

Springtime with Myra

Posted on 9 March 2015 by Jennifer

Oh, man. Today it got above 50 degrees, and if I thought Christmas without Myra was hard, it’s got nothing on springtime. Mom was an avid gardener, a passionate iris grower, and until I was 12 I didn’t even know … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Grief, Hendrum, Love, Nostalgia | 7 Comments

“Good job, tenors.”

Posted on 30 May 2014 by Jennifer

Our high school begins in seventh grade. I had all the attendant anxiety of moving from 6th grade to 7th, and still remember my late summer nightmares of that year. One thing that stayed the same, though, was my tenor … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Nostalgia, Teach | Leave a comment

To my friend, on her 41st birthday

Posted on 16 March 2014 by Jennifer

I first met Kari on a dirt road outside of Morris in June, 1991. We were both just a month past our high school graduations, and I had come to the University of Minnesota campus for the first time in … Continue reading →

Posted in Love, Nostalgia, Universe | 3 Comments

Wabi Sabi, Johnson style

Posted on 16 February 2014 by Jennifer

When I was young, my dad was a farmer and my mama was a school teacher. We didn’t have a lot of money, though it was more the you-don’t-really-need-that-new-shirt kind than the go-to-bed-hungry kind. We got new school clothes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Hendrum, Nostalgia | 1 Comment

Books for kids and people who were kids once

Posted on 11 December 2013 by Jennifer

A recent Facebook meme had me posting ten books that, for whatever reason, had stayed with me. As a nerdy nerd, narrowing it to ten was hard, but also fun. And it’s planted the seed in my mind about books … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Daughter, Nostalgia | 2 Comments

L is for Loy

Posted on 3 August 2013 by Jennifer

When I was in the fourth grade, Mrs. Melting wanted us to write about something we didn’t like about ourselves. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a single thing (oh the joy of being in fourth grade). … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Nostalgia, Write | 1 Comment