“And who does HE belong to?” Aunt Edith said, interrupting Uncle Earl’s story about another WWII veteran who recently moved in two doors down. Aunt Edith and Mama We watched her skinny arm reach out from the corner of the room and extend in John’s direction. “He’s mine,” I smiled. “He’s my husband.”  She turned her gaze toward my mother. “And do we like him?” she said in that beautiful southern accent I always wish I’d inherited, though her throat needed clearing. Mama smiled back and turned to John, “oh, we do, we do.” “Well, then,” Edith said, plain as a butter knife. She returned her arm to her lap and smiled closemouthed at her husband of almost seventy years as if to say, “continue.” He did while Mama and I put out lunch.  “And who does HE belong to?” Aunt Edith said five minutes later, the arm again accusing John of something only Edith knew. “Oh, he’s still mine,” I said, shoving a hushpuppy in my mouth. This line of questioning continued throughout the afternoon. She k...

“I need to check on the fort,” L said a few weeks ago as I unbuckled him from the car seat. “Is it finished?” asked his brother, hopping down from the car. “It’s mostly finished,” I said. “ We still need to accessorize. Let’s go take a look.” Through pine needles, we walked back to the edge of the woods and climbed the ladder to what is basically a six-foot-high, freestanding deck. We take in the 360 degree view that includes a neighbor’s pond, which we didn’t know existed until now. I was excited for them to see it, not only because of the time and expense that had been put into it, but because I had already imagined the games and campouts soon to follow on the platform. (A tent is one of the accessories on our list.) “This is nice,” L said, running to each corner for a look. “Paw-Paw did a good job.”  “He did,” I said, my heart filling up. “That’s so nice of you to say. You should tell him that.” “But we need cup holders,” T interrupted and stretched up onto his tiptoes to see a...

We enjoyed a beautiful Mother’s Day this year; I hope you did. Literally beautiful because we celebrated many of the moms in the family in the perfect place: outside. The weather was mild and the breeze was light, bringing with it the scent of honeysuckle—one of my favorite things. It was glorious, ya’ll.  Last year John and I ate grits and eggs out of to-go boxes with his parents in their front yard, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m still basking in the glow of Sunday.  The moms hauled in the goods too: gift cards, flowers, jewelry, cards—funny and sweet. I decided to join in on the gift-giving by making homemade decorated cookies as a take-home treat for the moms. The thought was a good one, but the execution was weak. (You know you have a mess when no amount of glitter can fix it.)  Then I remembered: You know how mothers often receive (usually handmade) gifts that are the worst, but moms have to act like they’re the best? I simply gave these ladies another opportuni...

National Public Radio just turned 50. I listen locally on WFAE in Charlotte where one of my favorite writers Tommy Tomlinson contributes. (Check out his podcast, Southbound , if you’re into that kind of thing.) The publicity surrounding NPR’s anniversary is full of anecdotes about how they made something from nothing. All while covering the news, which included the country’s largest antiwar protest taking place outside their door. (If you haven’t done the math yet, this was 1971.) NPR staff endured unknowns, mishaps, and flubs. Susan Stamberg, the first anchor of All Things Considered , tried to lower her voice like a man’s, which didn’t quite work. Considering their chaotic first day, show director Linda Wertheimer didn’t see much hope for NPR. She said it “was just going to be beyond awful.” When you’re in the middle of pandemonium, it’s hard to see your way out. But here they are fifty years later, chuckling about how far they’ve come. We can’t judge something on the first day...

Hello, friends. No long post this week as I’m diving into my new job—and trying to do so with gusto and gratitude.  Here are a few things in my toolbox today: Eucalyptus and green mandarin essential oils in the diffuser. WNCW streaming through Alexa. Iced tea (no sugar). Dove dark chocolate (yes, Sugar). Occasional peeks out my “office” window. What’s getting you through the week?

Hans Christian Andersen would have been 216 years old this month. Remember him? He wrote “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “The Princess and the Pea”—a favorite of mine as a child. In honor of his birthday, I re-read “The Princess and the Pea.” I have to say I was underwhelmed and am struggling to remember what drew me to the story in the first place. I must have read or seen some adaptation, like this one . In Andersen’s original story, the prince wanted to marry a princess. (Nothing new there.) During his travels he found several princesses, all with deal-breaking attributes. One stormy night back home a young, waterlogged girl, claiming to be a princess, knocked on the door. She didn’t look like a princess, so the queen tested her nobility by placing a single pea under her bed—a stack of twenty mattresses. The next morning the princess came down to breakfast, less than rested. She complained that she hadn’t slept and had been bruised by something under the bed....

Last Saturday was a beautiful day for a wedding, a virtual one. A dear friend married the sweetest fella on the banks of the Chesapeake. The setting was perfect, pandemic or not. The handsome groom stood next to his gorgeous bride as they looked out over the water. A handful of family members sat behind them as they made the ultimate commitment to each other, getting a fresh start as a married couple. The minister’s words were encouraging and hopeful, as they should be. As someone who has been married for a while, I appreciated his words about vulnerability, encouragement, and grace. I needed reminding. He didn’t only speak to the betrothed, he spoke to all of us and handed out loving marching orders on how to lift up this young couple. I’m paraphrasing here, but he directed us to give them space and grace as they get to know each other. At first that struck me as odd. Shouldn’t they know each other before getting married? Well, yes and no.  Yes, you should know someone well enoug...

She’d tell you how to make chicken casserole but "forget" to mention the chicken.  That’s how I described my mother. At her funeral. I said nice things about her too, of course, but this brought the most smiles to the pews. We all knew the woman was stingy with a recipe.  When I’d ask her how to make a favorite dish she’d say, “I’ll make it for you.” I felt bold once and replied, “When you’re dead and gone, don’t you want us to make your recipes and lovingly think about you?” She simply smiled, unfazed and unpersuaded.  A few years later when she had terminal cancer and knew the end was coming sooner than later, I summoned her to my kitchen with all the makings of a roast. Finally, I thought, I have her cornered; she’ll have to come clean. As I seared the beef in my grandmother’s cast-iron skillet, Mama scanned the back of the shameful seasoning packet I’d bought in desperation. Like a purr she said, “I think this is how I do it.” Lies. That day was not the first time I h...

When I shared low-tech documentation tips with you last month, I left out the to be continued part.  "Tips and tricks" can be overwhelming. There's so much information out there that it can be hard to know which ones to apply or where to even start. It's easy to become paralyzed and do nothing. (I may or may not be speaking from experience.)  So here are a few more  specific actions you can take to improve the accuracy and quality of anything you write. Try one or all and see what might work for you. 1. Start a Style Sheet  (Stick with me here.) A style guide is a comprehensive set of documentation rules. It can cover hyphenation rules, when to spell out numbers (vs. using numerals), and many other usage guidelines. Your organization might maintain their own in-house style guide or it may adopt one that's already out there (e.g., Chicago Manual of Style). A style guide helps ensure consistency in usage as well as brand and voice, depending on the organization. ...

I promised a friend I wouldn’t write anything nature-related this week, but…spring! You know, that time of year when you wear a T-shirt one day and three layers the next. Actually, that’s much of the year here in North Carolina. Don’t tell me you forgot about last fall when you packed away your shorts and flip flops only to find yourself—two weeks later—sweating into your pumpkin spice latte. Last week did me in, meteorologically speaking, between Daylight Saving Time starting to schools being closed for possible tornados to tucking hand warmers into my pockets for a T-ball game. I’m ready for March to scoot out like a lamb. Look out your window—even the plants are confused. Everything is blooming. We haven’t lived all four seasons in this house yet, so we were excited to see daffodils pop up last week, seemingly out of nowhere. Although I loved the view from my window, I felt the urge to knock on it and holler “no, don’t do that. It’s not safe for you yet!” They probably wouldn’t list...

Have you heard of forest bathing? It’s a new-to-me type of therapy in the world of wellness where you cleanse your mind and spirit—among the trees. I’m for that. I’ve always been drawn to the woods and, growing up, we played in them almost daily. It was the seventies, though, and we didn’t know we were ahead of our time--we were just having fun.  On hot, summer days we’d ride our bikes up and into the tall pines; the air was 20 degrees cooler under the canopy. There was no doorway, but it felt as if we’d entered a different world. We raced along the dirt trails, played hide-and-go-seek, and scared ourselves. We checked for evidence of a recent party where our older brothers and sisters sometimes gathered around a campfire to sneak a smoke and pass a bottle of Boone’s Farm.  Years ago, before the land was clear-cut for a housing development, I took one last walk. The paths were faint and overgrown; the trees had thinned out. What seemed so vast and mysterious to me as a child ...

I hugged my mother-in-law yesterday. It had been three weeks since her second vaccination. It was quick like they said to do. I held my breath. "Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday," I whispered through my mask. The words caught in my throat. "Yes," she laughed, through hers. I'm not really a hugger, but I have to say I've missed them. As of last year, though, a hug could kill you. Pre-2020, that statement would've gotten eye rolls. Now, though, yes, it actually can. Last Easter we passed containers of food to my in-laws through their front door, refusing the invitation to come inside. For Mother's Day we ate takeout grits and eggs on tailgate chairs in their front yard. It was inconvenient but novel. We'll get through this, we thought. We felt we were doing the right thing and took comfort in that. Our motto became WWFD (What Would Fauci Do) . But we're human and it got old. We weren't always perfect with the precautions...

Technical writers are professional communicators. It’s their job to figure out what should be communicated to your audience and how. The audience could be your customers, clients, users, or staff. The final product could be a procedure, manual, website, or training video script. If you want to round out your team with a technical writer, understanding what a writer can and cannot do for your organization can help align expectations and reduce the chance of buyer’s remorse. (Although they may desperately want to), don't ask a tech writer to  Fix a broken process.  Capturing a process in writing (or other media) doesn’t necessarily make it a good process. The act of documenting, though, will often point to holes in the process, identifying areas for improvement. Let’s say a critical step in the receiving procedure is to compare shipping documents with the items received. Basic stuff. The writer will be sure to include that step since it’s been identified as an important one. Ex...

We are building a tree fort in the backyard for the little people in our family. When I say “we,” I mean my husband, John, is doing all the planning and labor. I am providing a second set of hands when needed, along with encouragement and opinions.  His first step was to have the boys draw a picture of the kind of tree fort they would like. I’m not sure if he was procrastinating or truly wanting suggestions, but I think he promised someone a punching bag. At this point, posts are secured into the ground with cement and the basic framing is up. Now he needs decking, which was the reason for our recent trip to the hardware store. On the way, we discussed how to get up to and down from the platform.       “I may go with stairs,” John announced.           “Wouldn’t a ladder be easier? And maybe a rope. A tree fort needs a rope hanging from somewhere,” I said.          " But someone could fall from the ladder.” ...

I love reading social media profiles.  Elevator speech? That’s nothing. The ability to describe yourself in only a few words is truly a gift. And to pare yourself down to simply a hobby, career, likes, dislikes, or “dad to 3 girls”…the choice of words is fascinating to me.   I recently spotted this one on LinkedIn:  “Motivational Seaker.”  I was immediately embarrassed for the person who placed that unfortunate error at the top of his page that went on to extol the virtues of his skill as a motivational speaker.  (I may or may not have also experienced the horror of returning to my own LinkedIn page after a few months and finding a typo.) But as is our habit in a digital world, I scrolled on to the next distraction. Throughout the day, though, I kept thinking about that “motivational seaker.” When read out loud—as you may have already done—it doesn’t seem so terrible after all. Motivation is the reason we act or behave in a certain way in order to meet a s...

Is writing on your task list this week? A letter to a client maybe? A report on a study your team just completed? Or what about an update to your project plan? If there’s a technical writer on your team, your practice might already involve passing it along to them first. (I use this term generally--of course a tech writer writes, but they can also be skillful proofreaders and editors.) I’m often the only writer on my team and am asked frequently to polish presentations, instructions, and marketing collateral prior to a deadline. My edits involve anything from reordering steps to making sure subjects and verbs agree to correcting the spelling of the boss’s name. Whether it is part of my official job role or not, this type of editing is a welcome opportunity to help out a teammate—and to evangelize for the serial comma. Editing ourselves, though, is hard and a second set of eyes is always best. But not everyone has the luxury of working with a writer or editor. No worries. I’ve compiled...