The Summer's Top Ten Greatest Hits
August 2025 Newsletter
For all my school years, as a student and then as a teacher, my stomach sank when August arrived. Back-to-school ads made me sad. Though I left the classroom in 2003, those reactions persisted for decades. This year when we got home from vacation and I sat down to write my August newsletter, I felt like something was missing. It took a few minutes to pinpoint what it was. Or, more accurately, what it wasn’t.
My stomach didn’t hurt.
Flipping the calendar didn’t fill me with dread.
I had scanned the Walmart and Target ads for cheap Christmas stocking stuffers with glee.
I wasn’t sad about August. I was enjoying it. I thought for a few more minutes and came up with a long list of reasons that was…and wasn’t. I pruned the list down to ten because you don’t have all day, and I want to get back to enjoying August. Here we go!
#10: Our Little Lime Punch Hydrangea
My husband planted the hydrangea pictured above two summers ago, and it’s come into its own. The bush is right outside our front door so I see it often. Its beauty leaves me breathless.
#9: The Joni & Friends Retreat in Lexington, Nebraska
In late July Hiram and I participated in Nebraska’s Joni & Friends retreat for families impacted by disability. He was a buddy. I worked with parents. We were both reminded of the worth of every human being and the holy and hard work family caregivers perform every day.
#8: Back-To-School Shopping Stocking Stuffer Shopping
Reframing back-to-school sales as Christmas shopping has been a hit with me. I can’t wait to get to the store to buy stuff for my grandkids’ and their parents’ Christmas stockings. Some of what I buy will be to use as prizes for the silly holiday games we all love. I. Can’t. Wait.
#7: July Rains
On the way from Iowa to Idaho and back, we drove through South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Those states, along with Iowa, have been plagued by drought for several years. But the heavens opened in July, rain fell, and the countryside turned beautiful. Our eyes feasted on green fields and ditches filled with wildflowers for most of the trip. As you can see, the clouds came to visit the Idaho mountains where we stayed. It rained all day.
#6: The Gracie Allen
The Gracie Allen, our home away from home for all of July, performed her duties well. She kept us warm on cool nights and cool on hot days. Traveling with her helps me manage environmental and food allergies. Because of the shenanigans the George Burns 2.0 pulled on the way to Idaho, it’s too soon to give him hit status. However, he does deserves kudos for hauling Gracie and her residents there and back again.
#5: Arthritis Relief
Arthritis and I have become far too chummy lately. It’s taken up residence in my left big toe, the one I broke as a kid, and at the base of my right thumb. (That may have something to do with writing, but I’m not ready to admit it.) I’ve started using Penetrex cream and a brace that stabilizes my thumb, and they are helping. Having less pain is a big hit with me. In the interest of full disclosure you should know that I don’t use the brace on my toe. It just doesn’t seem wise.
#4: Colorado Peaches
Because they make the best fresh peach pie. The recipe will be part of See Jane Ride! , the fifth West River Mystery. It will be released in March or April, so you'll have it in time for Colorado peach season next summer.
#3: Sweet Corn!
Iowa has the best sweet corn. From July through September, sweet corn stands can be found in the parking lots of every small town and often along the highways. It makes Iowa’s heat and humidity––also found in the parking lots of small towns, along the highways, and everywhere else in our fair state for that matter––worth it.
#2: BLTs
The tomatoes in our garden are ripening, and BLTs for supper (with corn-on-the-cob as a side dish and peaches, in or out of a pie, for dessert) are a hit whenever they are served. BLT pro tip: Bake the bacon instead of frying it. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the bacon on cookie sheets and bake it for 10-15 minutes.
#1: We Missed the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The #1 hit of this summer (for me at least) was not being in South Dakota during rally week. We had our fill of the rally while we lived out there. Much of the action in See Jane Ride! takes place during the 1978 rally. In honor of the 2025 rally, which is happening right now, here’s a little trivia I dug up while researching what the rally was like during its wild and wooly years in the late 1970s.
A walk down the main drag gave visitors an eyeful, such as scores of women letting it all hang out while standing on the motorcycles parked in the middle of the street.
Mini cannons mounted on the cycles.
Many people camped in the city park which was not policed. The park was closed to campers in the early 1980s after someone burned down an outhouse in the park.
The cycles of choice were Indians and Harleys.
The emphasis was more on racing bikes than riding them along curving and scenic roads in the Black Hills. The exception would be the bikes parked on the main drag. They had a totally different emphasis.
The Grace Lutheran Church in Sturgis has been serving Sunday breakfast to bikers for over 50 years. The cost of the meal is used to fund missions.
Different biker clubs “took over” different bars and camping areas during the rally. It wasn’t a good idea to enter them without an invitation.
As you can see, it’s no wonder my stomach isn’t tied up in knots this August. And as you’ll soon see, the rest of the summer and early fall will be busy too.
The Rest of the Summer
Here’s a quick look at what’s coming up in August and September:
Hiram and I are volunteering at the Wonderfully Made Family Camp (WMFC) from August 8-10 at Hidden Acres Christian Center. He’ll be a one-on-one buddy with a child who lives with disabilities. I’ll be assisting Jonathan and Sarah McGuire who will be working with caregiving parents.
After WMFC, we aren’t going anywhere for over a month. When my daughter and I aren’t canning tomatoes, I’ll be revising the rough draft of See Jane Stop, Drop, and Roll!, the sixth book in the West River series.
I’ll be at the South Dakota Festival of Books in September. I don’t know if I’m more excited about presenting at the festival or getting to meet one of my all time favorite authors, William Kent Krueger, who will be there also. Festival details such the schedule and venues are to be released on August 8, so look for more on that in the September newsletter.
After the festival, Hiram and I will drive 100 miles north to visit our friends and my former students in Camp Crook. We’ll be attending the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual BBQ supper, and I hope to gather more stories for the See Jane books yet to be written from the “old timers” who attend.