The Girl in the Red Rubber Boots

Author: Emily Sara Smucker

  • Bookweek 2019, Day 1: All About My Book

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    I’ve been wanting to do a bookweek since August, ya’ll. August. And it’s November. What the bunnyslipper. Well, here we go. I think I have time this week to spit out some blog posts. And if I don’t have time, I’ll create some time. Because seriously, soon it will be Christmas, and I want to do 12…

  • The Engagement

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    My brother Matt and his girlfriend Phoebe are both originally from Oregon, though they currently both live in Washington DC. But Phoebe’s grandpa was turning 100, and Matt needed a vacation, so they both came to Oregon for a week and a half. Hmmm. “Have you bought a ring yet?” I asked Matt. He winked…

  • Five Things I’ve been Loving this Fall

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    1. Hot Grape Juice Every fall we snip the grapes from our grapevines and stick them in the steam juicer. Then we watch the juice run out the little rubber hose, filling jar after jar with grape juice concentrate for the winter. We used to make grape juice every Sunday evening, mixing the concentrate with…

  • The End of the Road

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    There were eight of us: Four siblings, two spouses, and me, the lone granddaughter. All gathered at the bedside of Amos Yoder, a 102-year-old man who was bedridden following a stroke. We thought he was dying, and then he started to improve. We thought we should put him in a nursing home, and then he…

  • There’s No Map for This Journey

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    You know that week between Christmas and New Years, when everyone is off work but all the Christmas parties are over, and you just kind-of sit around and feel disoriented and pig out on leftovers and forget what day of the week it is? That’s what this week in Minnesota has been like. Well, not…

  • Oh, Grandpa!

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    Mom and I got to Minnesota on Sunday evening. We were picked up by my Uncle Rod and Aunt Rebecca, and taken to my Uncle Marcus and Aunt Anna’s house. Marcus is Mom’s brother, and Grandpa lives in his basement. Rebecca, Mom’s sister who lives in Chicago, is the next-closest, location wise, so she and…

  • Grandpa

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    My grandfather had a stroke last Friday. And when a 102-year-old man has a stroke, you start making funeral plans. When Mom told me the news, it somehow didn’t seem urgent. He may be winding down, I thought. But surely, surely he won’t die for a few more months yet. I always kinda thought he’d…

  • Alaska, Part 3: The Way it Invaded our Souls

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    I heard a rumor that one of the Kuhns babies looked at his mother, wide-eyed, and whispered, “are there dragons in Alaska?” That may be the best description of how Alaska made me feel. Like there could be dragons here. After Elaine’s wedding, I was so tired that I sat in the red chair and didn’t move. For three…

  • Alaska Part 2: The Wedding

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    Elaine and Brandon’s wedding was to take place in a pavilion on top of a hill. But the reception was to be held in the somewhat-boring-looking church sanctuary, so we made it beautiful using all things twinkly (candles, string lights, twinkle lights, etc). Most of the transforming was done on Thursday (you can read about…

  • Alaska! Part 1

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    My first introduction to Alaska came 45 minutes before my flight was supposed to land, when I finished my movie and lifted the window shade. As I peeked out upon the Alaskan landscape, still brightly lit at 9 pm, my jaw hit the floor. Look. I thought Oregon had “real” mountains, and I’d snicker at…