We’ve read and enjoyed these titles as a family. All include strong characters, engaging plots, and superlative story-telling. All have stood the test of time. (Kimber: You may detect a big canine bias here. Because everything is better with dogs. Including the Great Outdoors!)
Here, in no particular order, are our 100% unscientific, completely subjective recommendations for 20 awesome outdoor classics for older children. How many have you read?
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“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~Erma Bombeck
Happy Birthday, America!
And best wishes to all our dear readers for a safe and enjoyable holiday!
This post was originally published here in 2015.
We thought it was time for an encore.
That one small entry wound belied a massive, mostly internal hemorrhage that was about to kill me. I’d be dead in a matter of minutes, unless someone with some kind of x-ray vision happened to show up and was somehow able to see all the bleeding that couldn’t be seen. I needed a miracle.
In gripping You Are There fashion, Back in the Game tells what happened when one man opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on the morning of June 14, 2014, wounding five and nearly killing one: Louisiana congressman and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. And how Scalise fought his way back to the people’s House.
It’s Scalise’s moment by moment account of not only what happened to him, but of those who emerged in the seconds after the shooting began and worked to save his life and the lives of his colleagues and teammates when a lone gunman attempted the greatest political assassination in U.S. history.
The gunman came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding.
Kimber: Let me just say right out of the kennel that Back in the Game is a book about heroes. Like:
According to family lore, one of us has roots in Ireland. So on this Saint Patrick’s Day we’re highlighting some of our favorite books set in and around the fabled Emerald Isle. Of course, we had to dig some up. And keep digging. And dig some more.
It took some effort. But one of us – the sweet four-legged one with a heart of gold – happens to be very good at digging. (Let’s just keep that our little secret, okay? – Kimber.)
So here are some of our favorite books set in Ireland. That we’ve actually read. Any of these ring any rainbows? In no particular order:
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner…
A professional photographer who’s spent his entire life on the road “chasing good light” all over the world, Robert Kincaid* is reclusive and reserved. But he has his memories. Especially memories of a lonely farm wife he met sixteen years ago at a bridge in Madison County, Iowa.
Fast forward to 1981. Robert Kincaid of Bellingham, Washington is now sixty-eight years old. His best friends are a ’54 Chevy pickup truck named “Harry” and a golden retriever named “Highway.” As the years pile up, memories of four summer days in Iowa that had to last a lifetime begin to swirl. Robert decides to find them.
Do you do New Year’s resolutions? Mom says these reso thingies are how some hoomans ring in the New Year. Like: This year I’m gonna:
“… all snug in her bed…”
Kimber: Mom just called me in from the yard. ‘Bout time. That big yellow ball in the sky is starting to spread across the horizon like a giant egg yolk. Temperatures are dropping. The Powder Puff just sauntered past. Why that canine lets her owner deck her out in that green and red jacket + reindeer antlers, I’ll never know.
Anyway, when Mom opened the porch door, I caught a whiff of Something Warm and Wonderful inside. She says, “Kimber, dinner! Come!”
Mom and I have cooked up something short and sweet for you today. Well, actually we cooked this up last year. But who’s counting? Besides. Ya see, one of us is being a lazy slug today (Hi, Mom). Come to think of it, I, Kimber, am a bit tuckered, too.
Mom says solitude can be hard to come by in our rush-rush, hurry up, instant everything society. Grabbing a few quiet moments to refresh and recharge can be a challenge any time. But it’s particularly tough during the holidays, huh?
So if holiday merry-making has you ready to tear your hair out or your festive feathers are a bit ruffled, this is for you.
Slow down. Grab a hot cuppa. Plop in a peppermint stick. Sit down. Put your feet up. Give Manheim Steamroller’s Stille Nacht (Silent Night) a listen. Five quiet minutes. You’ll be glad you did.
Know someone who could use a yuletide boost? Don’t forget to share!
Snowy field image credit: Public domain
Every year on this day we pause to remember and pay tribute to one of the best friends we ever had.
She was the most beautiful Yellow Lab ya ever saw.
We post the following reflection every year in Eve’s honor.
Kimber: You know I’m a happy camper, right? I mean, hey. My middle name is “merry and bright”! So I don’t quite get all this barking about “holiday stress.” Mom says it’s a thing. So it must be a thing.
Well. You also know I’m a helper. I help going out on walks and hikes. Cleaning up kitchen spills. Guarding the house. Especially from menacing deer. Lurking Fed Ex drivers. Sketchy-looking plastic bags.
Being a world class helper and all, I figure I better help with this holiday stress thing. So here are my top ten tips for reducing holiday stress. Ready? Okay. Here goes:
Pages & Paws 