YOU REALLY CAN GO HOME AGAIN

  Summer in Michigan — just the thought of it brings a smile to my face. Both my husband and I hail from a small town in southeastern Michigan, and this summer we returned for a whirlwind of a trip that examined our past and our ancestry. Day after day brought new discoveries and old

Poisoning the Poor Redux

I posted this post back in February. Yesterday I heard a report on NPR that Flint residents still can’t drink their water. They must still pick up water from city hall. The donations of bottled water have fallen off. And still, the people suffer because of horrid decisions made by those in power. The Detroit

BEHIND THE BAR – #New release by P.C. Zick

One hundred and eleven years ago today, my father was born in a small town in Michigan. He passed away in 1981, but I still think of him often and feel his guiding hand in all I do. Today I pay tribute to him by releasing my eighth novel. Thank you, Burtis Harmon Camburn for

Serendipity at Sixty

Next month a milestone birthday visits me when I turn sixty years old. Sixty? Are you kidding me? How can I be sixty when I still feel thirty? I’ve become more intro- and retrospective this year because I know for sure I’m beyond what we refer to as “middle-aged.” And I’m not sure how it

#Oil Spills Continue

As I began to think about how to celebrate Earth Day 2014 and to remember the BP oil spill four years ago on April 20, 2010, I learned of another oil spill in Galveston, Texas, that threatened one the the largest bird nesting sites. (Click here for article from the Texas Tribune). Most disturbing of

#Civil War on New Years Day 1863

Happy New Year 2014. As we enjoy the parties and celebrations and resolutions, I wanted to share another New Years Day. The new year is 1863 and soldiers from both sides of the Civil War enjoyed fireworks of a different nature as the fight between the north and south factions continued their pursuit of victory.

Tipping My Hat to My Ancestors

@PCZick Synchronicity led me to write this post. “What other people think of me is none of my business.” I read this statement recently, and it stayed with me as the song heard on the radio in the morning that stays in my head throughout the day. In the past few months, I immersed myself

Words of a #Civil War Soldier Show Not Much Has Changed

Today’s post is inspired by my fellow blogger and author, Lori Crane, over at A Day in the Life of Patootie. She’s challenged all bloggers to participate in a month-long series of posts about our ancestors. Check out her blog – she’s loaded with anecdotes from her lineage. In the past few weeks, I’ve immersed

More Than Two Hundred Thanks

By Patricia Zick @PCZick Happy Labor Day to all of you. When I taught high school, this holiday was always bittersweet. It definitely meant the end to my summer holiday, and the start of a new school year. It’s different now, especially living in the north. This holiday means the demarcation of a new season.

Turn Earth Day into Earth Year

By Patricia Zick @PCZick This week we celebrate the forty-third anniversary of Earth Day. The original Earth Day came as a reaction to several events that occurred in the preceding year: an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara and a river catching on fire in Ohio. Today we need to remember more than