Marlene’s Blog: Food, Family, and Reflections on Grandparenting

Grandparenting: The Unexpected Joy

by Marlene Bumgarner | Jan 13, 2015 | Family, Grandparenting

My first grandchild will turn four in two weeks, and that upcoming event has caused me to review the time that we have spent growing together, child and grandma. But this weekend I also found myself reviewing something else entirely, the growth in my own daughter...

Flipping Tortillas at UCSC Life Lab

by Marlene Bumgarner | Jan 5, 2015 | Community

Before Christmas, I was invited to visit the UC Santa Cruz Life Lab during a children’s field trip. It had been raining the day before, but as I drove up the hill through the main University entrance I had my window open and I inhaled deeply of the sweet moist air. ...

Liberty Clegg of Saltaire Village

by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 29, 2014 | Christmas in Yorkshire

I left Yorkshire yesterday and traveled by train over the Pennines (“the backbone of England”) to Lancashire and members of the other side of my family tree. Before leaving, however, I started writing the story of Libby Clegg, a fictitious little girl...

Hitting the Reset Button

by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 21, 2014 | Christmas in Yorkshire

I’ve been in England for eleven days. Between the long list of tasks that come with taking an international trip and a full schedule of visits to friends, relatives, and events since I arrived, all wonderful, I’ve become less and less engaged, and less and...

Of Chargers, Currency, and Time Zones

by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 8, 2014 | Christmas in Yorkshire

I woke up the middle of the night, suddenly remembering that I had not yet dealt with the international elecrical current situation. I’ve been to several different countries in the last four decades, and the complications of powering hair dryers and charging...