Archive for: » Reflections on the River

Chuckwagon Meal

April 25, 2012 in: Reflections on the River

Last year, I hosted my ladies Bible study group for our Christmas party. With a cowboy theme, I dubbed it “Home on the Range for Christmas” and served cornbread beef casserole. My friend Becky, a Texas transplant, loved this dish and mentioned it the other day, so I made it again recently. Cornbread Beef Casserole [...]

continue reading

The Garbage Experiment

March 23, 2012 in: Reflections on the River

This looks like a pile of garbage. Because it is. However, I have high hopes for this assortment of orange rinds, coffee grounds and potato peelings. I decided to try an experiment composting late last summer with some watermelon rinds because they are so heavy and so messy to carry out with the garbage. Having [...]

continue reading

7 Facts About Me

March 20, 2012 in: Reflections on the River

1. When I was a kid, my mom forced me to work in the garden and I loathed every minute. Now, the garden is one of my favorite spots on earth. This time of year, when I go home for lunch I usually slip out to my little plot to pull a few weeds and map my [...]

continue reading

Signs of the Old Times

February 2, 2012 in: Reflections on the River

I learned about some “signs” of times gone by during the Tuesday Night Talk at the Pony Express National Museum this week. Some were more obvious than others. Ruth Rother, a retired school teacher, gave a presentation about the Underground Railroad.                             [...]

continue reading

Reflections on Mark Twain’s river

November 28, 2011 in: Reflections on the Riverseparator=, &Writing

The first time I read Huckleberry Finn was in third grade. If memory serves correctly, I had to get special permission from Mrs. Gates the librarian to check it out for an extra week so I could finish. She was good at encouraging kids to read that way. Much of the symbolism was lost on [...]

continue reading

Night at the Museum

November 18, 2011 in: Reflections on the Riverseparator=, &Writing

The St. Joseph Women’s Press Club met at the St. Joseph Museum this week and hostess Jackie Lewin helped us experience the Civil War. We started with an authentic Civil War era meal made by club members.                         Jackie made “interpretive” tags for each [...]

continue reading

Pumpkin Fest at the Pony Express

October 16, 2011 in: Reflections on the River

One of the fun things about living in historic St. Joseph is that each morning on my way to work, I drive by the Pony Express Museum. As the museum prepared for its annual Pumpkin Fest, I witnessed the tents, carnival rides and pumpkin mountain going up. Pumpkin Fest, one of the museum’s main fund [...]

continue reading

Surviving a summer of storms

September 7, 2011 in: Reflections on the River

Straight up noon on Friday in an all-American town, somewhere between the end of summer and the start of school. Dad and I were eating lunch at the pizza buffet. The food was good, the conversation comfortable and we were in no hurry. In these waning days of August, moments of calm seemed like rare [...]

continue reading

Taking it easy this awesome August

August 14, 2011 in: Reflections on the River

August used to be my absolute most hated month of the whole year. July was all popsicles, water slides and fireworks, but the moment the calendar turned over, a sense a dread settled in my stomach. A big old circle around a certain date gave full notice that my wild and carefree days were numbered. [...]

continue reading

Through the Year in a Garden

July 25, 2011 in: Reflections on the River

January. This is the year. I’m going to eat better, exercise more and save money. The garden will help me do all three! Besides the usual, boring stuff, I’m going to try new exotic produce. And this will be the year I master the pressure canner. Next January, we’ll be feasting on zucchini corn relish, [...]

continue reading

About Susan

I'm Susan Mires, writing reflections from my perspective on the Missouri River in St. Joseph, Mo. I am a newspaper columnist, free lance writer and aspiring novelist. I enjoy keeping up with local issues and the things that make everyday life so interesting. Book reviews and devotions are also featured here. Find out more on the Reflections page.