Baker's heartbeat

Steve and I, in downtown Minneapolis, where I was born. I was raised in the suburbs.   This is where I grew up: Tipton, Iowa. The view out the back window where I live now: North Scott County, Iowa.  I once served on an advisory committee for the North Scott School District. Nominated by the principal at my daughter's elementary school, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience through the school year. We parents and district stakeholders were an advisory group, of sorts, to the superintendent. The first meeting was notable because the superintendent had simple questions that confused us newbies: What is your hometown? Where are you from? Uh, what exactly? Some of us shrugged, wiggled uncomfortably, and said "North Scott." Now, I love living in North Scott but I actually didn't move into the district until 1993. I was born in Minneapolis, Minn., and raised in Tipton, Iowa. What is a hometown, anyway? According to dictionaries, "hometown" i...

Photos above: Me, after appointment; masked stylist Amy Bowe and me; the wild hair. It took more than three months but a Red Letter Day arrived on June 3 with my hair appointment at Smiles, a beauty salon in Eldridge, Iowa. I couldn't wait to get this mop cut off! Hair? Essential services? One and the same in the minds of many, many women. Every woman I spoke to the last few weeks knew exactly what I was talking about. For example, while shopping earlier this week I mentioned I was busy on Wednesday "getting my hair done." The store owner was enthused: "My appointment is June 9!" she replied. I was on time June 3 and carried a mask into Smiles, where I have gone for the last two years. Salon owner Nikki Tuftee had fielded my call many days ago, and noted the earliest open appointment was Wednesday. Tuftee and stylist Amy Bowe both wore masks at my visit. The salon was sparkling clean and had a central station for hand sanitizer and masks. I...

Both of these masks are off Etsy; one for all the blue I wear, one for when I want to show my collegiate colors. We also have some plain white masks and those made from Deere & Co. fabric. The world is starting to open up and we now are faced with a new set of decisions: How comfortable is it to go out ... And live? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, is headquartered in Atlanta. These are the folks who set public health policy in the United States. Current federal recommendations are for most everyone to wear masks when social distancing techniques are not feasible. This makes for an ongoing discussion among family, friends and neighbors. We've met a couple of times for "Distance socializing," where couples sit in pairs of chairs, six feet apart. That, all agree, is comfortable. Not to mention, good for psychological health. No masks are worn. But get out in stores, or restaurants, and then what? Masks are not my favorite thing, mind ...

  Carol Baker and youngest great-granddaughter, Myla, in 2019   Scenes from the funeral: Oakdale Cemetery Baker family gravesite   Scenes from the funeral: A tribute poster. Carol Baker's youngest great-granddaughter, Myla. We thought we had a little more time to say good-bye to the Baker family matriarch, Carol Joan Baker, but no. She passed away last Saturday afternoon. Her children, Steve Baker and Cindy Hayes, were with their mom, right to the end. She died of complications from Alzheimer's disease, which she and her husband of 64 years, Don, contracted some time ago. Don died on Jan. 24, 2014, when the Iowa winter was at its worst. Carol left us May 9 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the difficulties of losing loved ones these days are documented nation-wide, our family experienced a whole lot of compassion from all involved. The staff at the nursing home in West Liberty let Steve and Cindy visit their mother, for one thing. They were...

Empty hangers in the front closet indicate jackets and coats in the laundry.   This video is one suggestion on what to do when feeling hemmed in. Today I'm washing the jackets and hats. Yep, it's come down to the front closet, which holds both the wintertime hats, gloves and scarves, and also various jackets and coats. Into the washer and dryer they go! I'm so worried about the COVID-19, I've finished spring cleaning, and now am in the process of laundering almost everything in the house. That puts an awful lot of stress on the washer and dryer, not to mention the patient spouse, but no matter. I WILL protect this house from viruses like COVID-19! To date, that means: 1. Changing and washing towels every 2-3 days. 2. Changing linens once a week. 3. The afore-mentioned spring cleaning, which includes vacuuming and cleaning almost everything one can find in this house. 4. Cleaning the baths, once a week. 5. Sorting out clothes for Cinderella...

At top, the Scott County Library in Eldridge, Iowa; in the photo above, the daffodils are hanging their heads, a bit, because of the recent (April 17) snow. My mom started taking me to the local public library when I was just a little girl. We'd walk several blocks from our house, and mom would hold my hand while I balanced on a stone wall that rimmed the 50th Street library property in Edina, Minn. After we chose the books, we'd get a treat at Clancy's, a drug store with an ice cream fountain. Edina is a "first-tier" suburb of Minneapolis and where my family lived the first eight years of my life. That library is gone now. I still remember some of my favorite books, especially one that featured ponies. Like many little girls I loved horses, and ponies looked especially inviting. In retrospect it was probably a literary precursor to the "My Little Pony" movement in the 2010's. When I moved to Tipton, Iowa, in 1969, we lived kitty-corner...

This coupon is the closest thing I've seen to toilet paper in weeks. Why are liquor supplies so strong yet it's very difficult to find normal toilet paper? The question came up again after another fruitless trip to buy the paper product. The point was made by husband Steve, and it begs the query: Just what are priorities for America? According to a March 20 report in Forbes magazine (Forbes.com) the current shortage of paper products (toilet paper, Kleenex, napkins, and the like) is temporary. Manufacturers of such products are luckily located in the United States, and they are being produced in record numbers. "Rest assured, tissue products continue to be produced and shipped, just as they are 52 weeks each year," Heidi Brock said. Brock is president and CEO for American Forest & Paper Association, and she spoke to CBS News in March. Recent shopping trips to Target and to HyVee in Davenport, Iowa, show empty shelves where the paper products are conce...