Truck driving was my father’s default occupation, the job he turned to when other projects didn’t turn out. It was a default occupation because he was good at it, and though he disliked working for other people, he did enjoy driving and took pride in his skill at handling the big diesel rigs. Below are … Continue reading Jack Willems: “Truck Driving Exploits”
Author: lorettawillems
Chapter 2: The Christmas Tree House
My parents lost the little farm in Navelencia, the place where memory began for me. Dad got the place by buying out another man’s interest in the farm and assuming the mortgage, a deal done without the original owner’s permission. When Dad couldn’t make the mortgage payment at the end of the grape harvest, the … Continue reading Chapter 2: The Christmas Tree House
“Toddlers remember better than you think”
“Up until the 1980s, it was thought that babies and young toddlers lived in a perpetual present. … The paradigm of the perpetual present has now itself been forgotten. Even infants are aware of the past, as many remarkable experiments have shown. Babies can’t speak but they can imitate, and if shown a series of … Continue reading “Toddlers remember better than you think”
Chapter 1: Memory
“The only observations worth making are those that sink in upon you in childhood. We don’t know we’re observing, but we see everything. Our minds are relatively blank, our memories are not crammed full of all sorts of names, so that the impressions we gather in the first 12 years are enormous and vivid and … Continue reading Chapter 1: Memory
Old Photos
I have been going though my accumulation of old photos, trying to find a satisfying way to both organize and preserve them. Particularly urgent are the colored snapshots and portraits made back in the 1970s and 1980s. Unbeknownst to us then, that lovely color was doomed to fade. Before long they will be ghost photos. … Continue reading Old Photos
Young Mother
Paul Buxman painting: "Winter Vineyard" Winter is the rainy season in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Some years the rain is sparse; other years it rains and rains and rains. And when it isn’t raining, and the sun tries to come out, the dreaded tule fog rises from the wet ground and turns everything a uniform, … Continue reading Young Mother
Winter Rain
“Newly Planted Orchard” Oil on canvas by Paul Buxman “Winter is the rainy season in the San Joaquin Valley. Massive clouds heavy with moisture picked up over the Pacific Ocean bump into the massive wall of the Sierra Nevada and dump their load of snow and rain. Then, when the clouds clear and the sun … Continue reading Winter Rain
Harvest Festival: Sweet Home Ranch
"Pomegranate Jelly," 14"x16" oil on canvas "Our early foothill pomegranate tree yields more than enough fruit to make at least a hundred half pints of Jelly. Well, it would if we didn't eat so many of them fresh." Paul Buxman November 1, Dinuba, California The trees and vines are tired and dusty now, … Continue reading Harvest Festival: Sweet Home Ranch
October
The Bellingham launch of my book, The Gift of Laughter: The Story of a California Mennonite Family, took place Sunday afternoon, October 1. There was laughter and music amidst a gathering of family and friends. Also there, Ruth and Paul Buxman. Paul is the artist who painted the scene that was used on the cover … Continue reading October
New Zimmerman Family Information
One of the very nice things about the internet and posting family information on a website is the sharing of information it makes possible. Below is some information from other descendants of Heinrich H. & Maria Dyck Zimmermann I've learned since finishing the book. I. Names: The middle initial for Maria and Heinrich's surviving sons … Continue reading New Zimmerman Family Information
