Posts by Jennifer Dougan
Boats, Beans, and a Summer Hunt for Crazy Joy
It wasn’t at the fire pit that I felt him most. Glowing embers spelled out his name amidst laughing families, playful Family Camp counselors, and sticky fingers waving blackened marshmallows. The unmistakable scent of bug spray wafted off us all, and a spectacular red sun slipped into the lake. I felt him, and loved him,…
Read MoreHow Do You Ignite a Love for Family?
It was the lightning bugs and the laughter last night. That’s what stands out the most. In between are glimpses of grandparents arriving, of jostling elbows in the kitchen as we rinsed black dirt from tiny fresh garden beets, stirred spiral garlic pasta around green peas, and frosted a birthday cake. Seven of us crowded…
Read MoreBalancing Work and Home: Making Every Moment Count
Stepping outdoors, the heat hit my face, and I sucked in air greedily. One of my favorite scents is the fragrance of hot wet soil and asphalt steaming in the sun after a rain. Sand ripples, eroded by flash rain, strata-ed the edges of the road, and a red fire hydrant gleamed newly-polished from the…
Read MoreAdding Steam & Romance to our Marriages this Summer
As summer steams up and children are off familiar school schedules, it’s easy to simply fall into the role of Kid Chauffeur and Activities Coordinator. For my husband and I, though, summer is also a chance for more romance. He jokes wryly that his homeschooling wife suddenly gives him more attention once school is done…
Read MoreHow Not to Lose this Summer that’s Slipping By
Under a massive blue sky, mammoth cotton clouds slide shadows across the deck and my pink skin. Motorcycles hum, birds sing, and a hot wind buffets sweaty skin. How do you make a summer stretch long? In between the jobs, park play dates, garage sale fundraisers, summer camp carpools, and youth missions trip details, how…
Read MoreA Midsummer’s Conversation
The words came together in a way I had never seen before. In between the sentences and the miracles, a quiet storyline unfolded before me. There had been a macabre seven-veils-style of dancing in a Roman court, culminating in erotic shimmies, and a request for a head on a platter. Grisly details finalized the deal.…
Read MoreAnd What Do You Buy God?
Five or six nickels and dimes line up precariously on the white pine bed railing, as my four-year old and I shove toys into piles in his room. Sitting cross-legged, I sort toys and bag up giveaways. “Daniel, I found another one!” He races over to pluck the coin from my hand, and carries it…
Read MoreTo My 18-Yr Old on Your Last Day of School
I remember chubby hands grasping thick crayons, and us singing your name to the tune of “Bingo was his name-oh.” I remember reading The Sign of the Beaver and building teepees and soft leather moccasins. We’ve painted medieval family crests; flooded mini Nile Rivers; constructed mud ziggarats; embalmed and mummified toys; and chipped chicken bones…
Read MoreBetween the Rains
“We’ll have to buy our wood before the rain comes,” he mused, carrying in bags and unpacking their tools. Wood saws, buckets, and gangly narrow planks–reverberating at each step– stacked into the garage or across the hot asphalt driveway. In-laws from the north drove down this week, kindly tackling work projects with us. Humid air…
Read MoreHow to Be the Mom They See
Lemon and cherry tulips stood in vases tall when I walked into the kitchen, gifts from my man and my look-alike man-child too. “We biked to the store since you had the car,” they breathed heavily, grinning, hair tousled by the gusty wind. “Can we play a game of Speed Scrabble together?” my socialite son…
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