Kathy Brasby Blog
Uncle Walter’s trip home
After Uncle Walter had saved $4000 on his wife’s funeral, it was only fair that his daughters used the same tactic when it was time for his funeral. Walter, age 93, died in Yuma, Arizona but had asked to be buried in Colorado - a trip of about 760 miles. When his...
Sooks, wigworms and ordinary days
I could have said this story happened on an ordinary day but there were no ordinary days with my youngest. Allow me to illustrate. I was fixing dinner one evening when he wandered into the kitchen. He was about 5 at the time but pushing a step ladder up to the counter...
The Bible: allusions
The Bible utilizes allusion so well that so that we often forget the familiar phrases are allusions. An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to a place, person, or event. Allusions engage the reader and often help the reader remember the point of the...
Blue ribbon cakes…or not
If you’re not familiar with 4-H, you have missed one of those incredible opportunities for training and crazy stories. Because we’re in a rural area, our kids completed several 4-H projects in their careers. But the most interesting was cake decorating. The Food...
The Bible: Beginnings
The Bible contains many examples of excellent writing that contributes to the author’s meaning. As we read, we need to learn how to engage in the writing techniques. I’m going to examine beginning of Genesis as example. Here are the first two sentences: In the...
Found a great puppy
I like dogs and I tend to like precise words. So, when my sister called to tell me that her family had gotten a new dog, I decided to stop by the house and check it out. My nephews met me at the door. Well, they bounced to the front door and shook out their hands...
The Bible: motifs
A literary technique that biblical authors use extensively is the motif. A motif is a recurring theme or distinctive feature woven through a literary text. A common motif in the Bible is the barren women. We first encounter this motif in the story of Abraham and Sarah...
Resisting the laundrists
I have a friend who claims to love doing laundry. She’s still my friend, which, I hope, reveals a ton about my tolerance level. Who loves doing laundry? Not me. My children were all instructed in the operation of our washing machine so that, by the time they could...
The Bible: repeated words
Authors learn early to do their best not to repeat words. Repeating words is monotonous in our English literature. Rather than use stairs four times in the paragraph, for example, use stairs and steps and pronouns. If you have to, rewrite to avoid repeats. A useful...
