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Happy Semiquiencentennial USA!

By Gabriel Cruden / July 3, 2026 /

Two-hundred and fifty years old already? Feels like just yesterday we were celebrating your 200th birthday. Yes, hard to believe that I’m old enough to remember when the USA was…

A Turn in the Journey

By Gabriel Cruden / June 5, 2026 /

The phone woke me up at 5:13 a.m. My automatic response was dread. It’s never good news when the phone rings during sleeping hours. I was actually relieved when I…

Time in a Bottle

By Gabriel Cruden / May 1, 2026 /

Welcome to May! As May is the month we celebrate Mother’s Day, it seems appropriate for me to reflect on motherhood. This May is especially significant to me, as a…

Easter Ham Glaze and Aunt Ruthie’s Sauce

By Gabriel Cruden / April 3, 2026 /

By Karen Giebel Easter is right around the corner and I thought I’d share two of my favorite holiday recipes. Both are very easy and can be made several days…

In Appreciation of the Easter Ham

By Gabriel Cruden / April 3, 2026 /

By Cassie Patton All across the world, families will once again come together to celebrate the arrival of Easter. As Americans, we tend to mix things up and go against…

Seven Things I Love About Doing My Taxes

By Gabriel Cruden / February 27, 2026 /

Yesterday, I went in for my annual appointment with my tax guy and something miraculous happened.  I am not a numbers person. I did well in school in general, but…

Living with an Open Heart

By Gabriel Cruden / January 30, 2026 /

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”  I realize that we’ve got a long way to go before we get…

Hit the Trail with Soph

By Gabriel Cruden / January 2, 2026 /

On Thanksgiving Day, I pressured my brother, William, and 71-year-old mother to walk through sideways rain, wind that tries to push your nose through your brain if you’re silly enough…

Why I’m Not Making Resolutions of 2026

By Gabriel Cruden / January 2, 2026 /

Just for fun, let’s start this new year off with a little pop quiz – don’t worry, you can’t fail this one. Which of the following is most like you…

The End of an Era? Two Degrees of Separation from Taylor Swift

By Gabriel Cruden / January 2, 2026 /

As a young child, on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, I would be playing in my room and I’d hear the loudest, awful, swearing coming from the living room.…