Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

Nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes. We all know that, and yet everybody still hopes to be the exception. At least I do. And nothing has taught me about the folly of this quest to avoid mistakes quite like my experience of being a singing, dancing and talking cow in the musical "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type." My recently completed run as a rebellious cow has given me a whole new understanding of the adage that it's not what mistakes you make, or even how many, that's critical but how you react to them. If one were to say, oh, dance in the wrong direction or sing at the wrong time (speaking purely hypothetically, of course) usually the best response is to continue as if the mistake was intentional. (Making a face, swearing or crying are usually unhelpful responses...again speaking purely hypothetically here). The intent is not to hide your mistake but to make it part of the show. And if you embrace the mistake and go with it most of the time the audience w...

It seems appropriate that Siblings Day was on April 10, just two days from April 12, the first anniversary of our dad's death. What do these two day have in common? Not only are they both occasions that it is hard to find greeting cards for, but the death of my last parent (that sounds like I had several, but just the standard issue of two...the point is I'm now down to zero) makes my brother and sister more important to me than ever before. It's not a simple matter of being closer (although my brother and I have had the opportunity recently to drink together more which is the epitome of German closeness) but of realizing how unique and special our relationship is.  I'm certainly not the first person to say this, but the bond of a shared childhood is irreplaceable. I think most families have their own micro-culture and language and no matter how weird or dysfunctional it might be, it's YOURS.  My siblings Jenn and Charley at the Luedtke Homestead While Jenn,...