Author Archives: windbarb

As a writing dabbler, I am finally doing the thing that I’ve been saying I was going to do for almost 10 years. I’m writing a book. The Book. Maybe the first of many books. I can carve out an … Continue reading →

Here we are, finally, on the 35th day and at the end of this longest federal government shutdown in history. Let’s hope it holds the record forever and that it really was the shutdown to end all shutdowns. I joked … Continue reading →

Much of the federal government has been “shut down” (unpaid) for a month now, and of course, it has had direct impact on my everyday life. Yes, I’ll get paid when this cruel shutdown is over, but right now, there is … Continue reading →

In my nearly-17-year career with the federal government, I have now experienced shutdowns both as an “excepted” employee (required to work through it but not paid until it’s over) and a furloughed employee. A colleague asked me which one is … Continue reading →

Being in the world of Wilder Weather means reading into the mind of a federal employee. We can’t help but ponder the shutdown situation, and I want to check in from the world of the shutdown. As we enter the … Continue reading →

I’ve seen one too many of these this week, and I can’t keep my itchy feet off my soapbox any longer. Stop taking tornado selfies. Just stop. They are tacky and tasteless.  They make a caricature of a harmful event and … Continue reading →

(Written late September 2015, with a later postscript) If I had known the last time you nursed would be the last time, I would have held you longer after you fell asleep.  I might have tried to take a picture. … Continue reading →

(Note:  I wrote this on June 29, 2015.) Today I comforted you. On the eve of your six month birthday, your evening routine is well established.  We go from play time and giggles quickly into pajamas and a book, because … Continue reading →

And pay the fiddler, we have! Being the proud parents of a now one-year-old little boy, working rotating shifts now opposite of each other instead of aligned with each other, and balancing our new lives and responsibilities has cost my … Continue reading →

Not a peep on the Wilder Weather blog for 6 months?  Where have you been?! Laura had a whirl of gaiety in her Little Town days.  My last six months can be described only as a blizzard of gaiety – … Continue reading →