A COLLECTION OF GOOD
*with Extra Good links, too

Twice in my life, "Why Iowa?" has been a central question, and I'm with you today to offer my affectionate answers. The first time was my own rhetorical "Why Iowa 🤗?!" in my (successful!) 1987 bid for a college transfer; the second was the flummoxed "Why Iowa 🤔???" when friends (and most plaintively E + C) learned we were moving from snazzy Seattle to Iowa City, IA in 2007. Both times, I was prepared with earnest, enthusiastic bullet points extolling the virtues of this s

We've got 🌟 loads 🌟 of sunny Dolly Parton content ahead; feel free to jump straight to our woman of the hour. But first, I'm working on a framework for good in troubled times: It’s been a volatile, disorienting few weeks in national/global events and discourse, and I'll be honest: I didn't really know how or when to insert buoyant content into our heavy flood of current events, this despite confidently pledging at the end of my Notes section that I'd keep the show going e

It’s Thanksgiving week! Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is, as mentioned in a previous post, my #1 favorite holiday of the year. It’s all comfort food, all gratitude, all acorns on the table, all kitchen and table talk, all Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and continuous football, all grandpa-y snacks like mixed nuts and Chex Mix. Thanksgiving gives us a LOT of topical material — food, traditions, thankfulness, mishaps and more, but this year's theme is the whole-group tea

Hi! Sorry, very sorry for my delay in posting here: a.) You might have noticed I have not found any sort of rhythm for posting Here's One Good Thing material — it may just always be a randomly-timed inbox surprise! b.) More to the point, I was not home to post this past Friday-Sunday and am not smooth enough yet to pre-post. Rick’s bday was on the 14th, and we headed up to celebrate in Breckenridge, which is the Denver-metro area's closest full-fledged ski town. We hit t

Howdy everyone 🤠! Greeting you from Texas, as we visit our E and experience the usual vagueness of a Lone Star October. It’s fall according to the calendar, but summer according to my shorts. And if it’s summer in my closet, it’s still summer in my heart. While I'm all-in on summer, I’m also a full-fledged fan of fall: all the sharpened pencils, the bus stop kids, the crispy leaves confetti-ing the sidewalks, the blazing yellows, oranges, and reds against a brilliant bl