By Nellie Curtiss … Now that I’m retired, going on 10 years, I wake up to my mission. My mission is to be sensitive to others. Whatever I do, wherever I go, I aim to offer a smile, a kind word, and in that mindset, serve others. It started somewhere in my childhood asContinue reading “To be of service to others”
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We do not live during the Dark Ages
By Nellie Curtiss As I listen to “naysayers” of modern vaccines and health care guidelines, I’m reminded of the Dark Ages when there was limited knowledge of medicine and science. An essay on the MET Museum website has some stark descriptions. During the Dark Ages [after the Fall of Roman Empire in 500 A.D. andContinue reading “We do not live during the Dark Ages”
Koko in pajamas, harboring “make-me” attitudes
By Nellie Curtiss … She came to class in pajamas. I looked at the attentive students in their first college composition class and saw Koko waltz in laughing and carrying on with the student behind her. She was late. She interrupted others, me, and when I gave a cooperative assignment, she would complain loudly aboutContinue reading “Koko in pajamas, harboring “make-me” attitudes”
Freedom looks like a yellow butterfly
By Nellie Curtiss … A large winged yellow butterfly swept across my field of vision. Was it a Dogface Southern butterfly or Clouded Sulphur butterfly? She zipped and curled around the Aspens in my backyard. Then, flittered to the Lilacs, then to the Alyssum. Freedom spilled around her as her wings parted the humidityContinue reading “Freedom looks like a yellow butterfly”
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
By Nellie Curtiss … We may not be aware of it, but the classic “Wizard of Oz” and the yellow brick road are metaphors that push our goals and dreams. We can look at this icon in American literature and film as a guide to successful living, winning at life, and “bringing home the bacon.”Continue reading “Follow the Yellow Brick Road”
Summer of laughter has begun
By Nellie Curtiss … Now that we are rounding the bend to a vaccinated population and hopefully to reducing covid variants or mutants, it’s time for a summer of laughter. On Netflix, Thunder Force staring Melissa McCarthy and Olivia Spencer is a feel good, laugh a lot, and do good movie, primed for our summer’sContinue reading “Summer of laughter has begun”
How many hats do you wear?
By Nellie Curtiss … In the November 13, 2010 Valley Courier, my column –How many hats do you wear?– was published. I considered different “hats” we’ve worn including the mischievous girl version of Dennis the Menace in preschool and grade school. My personal favorite “hat” was, “Why?” My parents may well have sighed at eachContinue reading “How many hats do you wear?”
Wanted: A world awash in kindness
By Nellie Curtiss … If you could design the world, what kind of world would it be? Having had a shotgun held on me once while I fed my baby, I would want a world where violence was replaced with moms and dads who set a holiday table and build dinners with peas, potatoes, carrots,Continue reading “Wanted: A world awash in kindness”
Sprout a desire to learn
By Nellie Curtiss … I’ve been actively learning for a long time now. When I was in elementary school at the Royal Oaks Elementary School outside Madrid, Spain, I cared most about handstands, jacks and running. I was not a lazy student, but I had a lot to absorb about learning. What I did inContinue reading “Sprout a desire to learn”
Quit roughhousing, play nice, straighten up
By Nellie Curtiss…. Although my mom died ten summers ago, I still want to call her and work crossword puzzles with her over the phone. On the weekends, my mind reaches for my iPhone to call her. In the last years before Mom moved on to the afterlife, I’d sit in front of the computerContinue reading “Quit roughhousing, play nice, straighten up”
Columns by nellie 